Today in Labor History May 5, 1852: The National Typographical Union was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, making it the oldest existing national union in the U.S.
1860s
May 5, 1860: Garibaldi set sail from Genoa, leading the expedition of the Thousand to conquer Sicily. His goal was to take Sicily from the Bourbons and unify Italy. Prior to this, he had lived in South America, where he participated in several wars for independence. During his time there, he learned guerilla tactics that he would later use in Europe. Because of his internationalism and solidarity, many of his contemporaries saw him as a symbol for republican ideals.
Today in Writing History May 5, 1864: Nellie Bly, American journalist and author, was born on this day. Bly was famous for her record-breaking trip around the world, which she completed in 72 days. This was faster than Phineas Fogg’s trip, in Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days.” However, she also pioneered investigative journalism. In one of her most celebrated pieces, she went undercover to report on abuse and neglect at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island. As a result of her report, and the sensation it created, reforms were made.
1880s
May 5, 1882: Sylvia Pankhurst was born on this day. Plankhurst was a leader of the English women’s suffrage movement. She was also a left (council) communist and follower of Anton Pannekoek. In her “Constitution for British Soviets,” she argued that “Mothers and … organizers of the family life of the community [should] be adequately represented, and … take their due part in the management of society [through] a system of household Soviets…”
Today in Labor History May 5, 1884: The Knights of Labor struck at Jay Gould’s Union Pacific Railroad over wage cuts and they won. Because of their success in this strike, their membership rapidly grew. However, when the Knights struck again, in 1886, Gould defeated them and the union quickly started to unravel. 200,000 workers participated in the Great Southwest Train Strike of 1886. Gould hired Pinkertons to infiltrate the union and to work as scabs. The Governor of Missouri mustered the National Guards. The Governor of Texas used the National Guards and the Texas Rangers against the strikers. At least ten people died during the strike.
May 5, 1886: Police attacked Jewish Workers from Chicago’s West Side as they attempted to march against slum conditions.
The Bay View Massacre
Today in Labor History May 5, 1886: The Bay View Massacre occurred in Milwaukee, one day after the Haymarket bombing, in Chicago. Workers in both cities were demonstrating for the 8-hour work-day. There were approximately 1,400 strikes that year for the 8-hour day. In Milwaukee, the governor called out the state militia and gave shoot-to-kill orders. As a result, they killed seven protesters, including a 14-year-old boy. No militiamen were ever charged. However, the authorities convicted fifty of the strikers and sentenced them to hard labor for “rioting.”
May 5, 1888: Nineteen machinists, working for the East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railroad gathered to decide what to do about a wage cut. They voted to form a union, which later became the International Association of Machinists.
1900s
Today in Writing History May 5, 1902: Bret Harte, American short story writer and poet died. Harte was most well-known for his stories about the California Gold Rush. However, he was also a journalist and a social critic. In 1860, he wrote about and condemned the massacre of Wiyot Indians, near Eureka, California. As a result of this piece, he received death threats and had to flee the county. In San Francisco, he wrote anonymously about how the local white people had approved of the massacre. He was a friend and colleague of Mark Twain. The town of Twain-Harte, in the Sierra Mountains, is named for them.
1910s
May 5, 1916: U.S. marines invaded the Dominican Republic to “protect” U.S. interests. They stayed and occupied the country until 1924. The Gavillero guerillas fought against the occupation from 1917-1924.
Today in Labor History May 5, 1917: IWW lumber workers in Spokane, Washington, went on strike to earn $5 for an 8-hour day. The boss hired scabs to replace them. However, the scabs were actually wobblies in disguise and joined their comrades on the picket line.
1920s
May 5, 1920: The authorities arrested the anarchists, Sacco and Vanzetti, for a robbery and murder they did not commit. They were eventually executed, despite their innocence.
Today in Labor History May 5, 1925: The Tennessee authorities arrested high School teacher John Scopes for teaching evolution, in violation of state law.
1930s
May 5, 1931: The Infamous Battle of Harlan County, Kentucky occurred. Also known as the Battle of Evarts, the strike began in response to wage cuts implemented in February. On May 5, a scab accosted a union worker, resulting in three deaths. Governor Flem Sampson called in the National Guard, which killed several more union miners. The Harlan County class war was the inspiration for Florence Reece’s famous union song “Which Side Are You On?” The strike continued for years, with the miners finally winning in 1940.
Today in Labor History May 5, 1934: John J. Sweeney was born on this day. He was the president of the Service Employees International Union from 1980 to 1995. After that, he was president of the AFL-CIO from 1995 to 2009.
May 5, 1937: A lumber strike began in the Pacific Northwest. 40,000 workers participated in the 13-week strike. Ultimately, they won a 50-cents-per-hour minimum wage and an eight-hour day.
1970s
Today in Labor History May 5, 1970: In response to the killings at Kent State and in protest against the war in Vietnam, protests erupted at campuses across United States. One of the first occurred in Seattle, with 1,000 U.W. students taking over the I-5 Freeway. Traffic backed up past Everett (site of the Everett Massacre, when police attacked the IWW, killing 5-12 union activists, in 1916). Ultimately, 5,000 students took part in the freeway occupation, while 10,000 marched the next day from campus to downtown Seattle.
1980s
May 5, 1981: Bobby Sands (1954-1981) died, ending his 66-day hunger strike. Sands was an Irish political prisoner and member of Parliament who had been locked up in the notorious Maze Prison near Belfast. The strike was an attempt to get the British government to grant political prisoner status to Nationalist inmates, rather than treating them as common criminals.
1990s-2000s
Today in Labor History May 5, 1998: 15,000 to 20,000 workers demonstrated in front of the employers’ federation building in Copenhagen, Denmark, as part of the national day of action called by the national meeting of shop stewards. It was also the ninth day of a national strike.
May 5, 2018: Capping several weeks of teacher unrest across the country, public educators in Arizona wion raises of 10 to 20 percent. Just prior to this, Oklahoma teachers struck for nine days and won roughly $6,000 in annual increases. And before that, teachers in West Virginia, won a five percent raise after their nearly two-week walkout. However, in almost all of the teacher strikes that occurred that year, the unions negotiated contracts that gave workers a fraction of what they demanded.
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