Around 8 o'clock in the morning on July 5, 1934, shop owners in the mission district of San Francisco were opening for business. Bankers and stock brokers were already at work in the financial district. Construction workers were busy building the new Oakland Bay Bridge.
Meanwhile, down near the waterfront, a Belt Line locomotive began nudging two refrigerator cars towards Matson Line docks on Pier 30. 1,000 police prepared to square off against 5,000 striking longshoremen in a pitched battle that would last all day long.
It was the first of two climatic episodes that would forever change the shape of labor unions on the west coast.
We only have a few days left until the Senate votes on the FISA Bill. We cannot count on Barack Obama or any other Democratic Leader to kill this thing. We the people will have to take action.
I went on a blog vacation for a few months, as I do occasionally. And I came back home to find the place (the greater blogosphere) trashed! There were things missing, people missing, and other things in grave disrepair. And I'm wondering what the hell happened!
There've been lots of good-natured diaries inviting, apologizing, and/or demanding that Hillary's supporters fall in line. As many have astutely said, these things will take time. This is not my concern. This isn't necessarily a unity diary.
Over at mydd, there are lots of interesting meta-diaries, where feelings seem to remain somewhat raw. These diaries suggest a blogosphere forever changed. So, specifically, what's the chronology of events? How has this affected the perception of certain blogs, the nature of the dialogue and sense of community, and the efficacy of blogs as a tool for political organizing?
We all stand to benefit from learning what pitfalls nearly ruined certain blogs, who are even now stuck in an endless cycle of petty comments, abusive ratings, hurt feelings, and a blurred line between what's snark and what's sincere. Snarkiness, if you will...
I met with my congressman today, Charles A. Gonzales from district 20, San Antonio, TX. We, a small group from Healthcare-Now San Antonio, met to discuss H.R. 676, Universal Health Care, or Medicare for ALL. There have already been 90 members of Congress that have signed on as co-sponsors, but my Congressman refuses to do so. He says that H.R. 676 is perfect, but it'll never get out of committee. When asked "Why?" he would only say that there would be too much resistance.
On November 22, 1909, thousands of New York shirtwaist textile workers met at the Cooper Union building to meet with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union’s Local 25 leaders to discuss working conditions and wages. Like most organizations in those days, the ILGWU was led by men.
Memorial Day in Chicago in 1937 was hot and sunny. On the prairie outside the Republic Steel's Chicago plant the strikers and their families began to gather for picnics. Women were dressed in their holiday best. Children could be seen riding on their father's shoulders.
Sam's Place was nearby. Once a dance-hall, Sam's was now the strike headquarters. Gradually the families drifted over to where a soup kitchen had been set up and where strike leaders gave speeches from a platform. A group of girls began singing IWW union songs, and the men joined in. Plans were being made for a mass demonstration, despite the rumors that the police had something big planned themselves.
The day seemed just too nice for anything bad to happen.
Over the last few weeks I have been writing about the plight of security guards working for a company called Inter-Con, a contractor at Kaiser Permanente Hospitals in California. One post I wrote on this was titled, Why Don't We Hear About Labor Issues Anymore? and I want to get to that subject some more here. But first, I want to go over what was covered.
For one thing the strikers weren't demanding more money, despite the fact that they only made $2 a week (adjusted for inflation, that would be $44 a week today). Their central demand was an 11-hour day (as opposed to the 13.5-hour days they were currently working), and only 9 hours on Saturday instead of a full day.
That in itself was significant enough. The first strike in American history to limit hours had happened only 7 years earlier, and was also in Paterson, New Jersey. That strike had been crushed after a week when the militia was called in.
What made this strike worth remembering was who the strikers were - they were children, aged 10 to 18. Many of them girls.
Obama made his first public comments about the American Axle strike last Thursday in Macomb and then, suddenly, there’s an agreement. I highly recommend seeing the video and listening to what he says about American Manufacturing jobs:
Let's take a look at the "agreement" after the bump...
There is a tentative agreement between AAM and UAW, not many details as of yet. Buffalo Cheektowaga facility to stay open, Tonawanda Forge to close, don't know much more yet, details will be released Sunday morning. WSBT DTV reports "A spokesperson who was briefed on the agreement says the auto part supplier has boosted its wage offer and increased payments it will give workers to take a wage cut."
Not much else is known, there is a running news feed of the American Axle strike in the original story at Joe's Union Review, I'm sorry I cant get it to work here
American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. boosted its wage offer and increased the payments it will give workers to take a wage cut as part of a tentative agreement that could settle an 11-week strike by the United Auto Workers union, a person briefed on the deal said Saturday.
Most of us who have been on DailyKos for awhile know alegre has been one of the most dedicated Hillary supporters on the site. alegre was to the Hillary camp what TomP was to the Edwards camp, and icebergslim was to the Obama camp... a good place for videos, mojo, and trollish retorts from detractors.
Edwards left the race gracefully and Hillary supporters went on strike.
On August 3, 1986, Florence Reece passed away at the age of 86. She was one of the greatest poets, songwriters, and social activists to ever come out of the Kentucky hills. Her signature song was "Which Side Are You On?"
The song is probably second only to The Internationale as a favorite for striking workers everywhere. It's a simple and powerful song that is only upstaged by the story behind it, and that's the story I want to tell.
You can here Pete Seeger sing it here. Or if you prefer the punk version.
And if you want to see her speak, just click here.
This week I wrote about the Kaiser Permanente / Inter-Con Security Security Guard strike.
The post Security Guards Striking for the Right to Have Our Laws Enforced discussed why the guards are striking. They are employees of Inter-Con Security, Inc., which contracts services to Kaiser Permanente facilities in California. This company (not Kaiser) is trying to stop the guards from forming a union and the guards are striking to ask that laws allowing union organizing be enforced.
General Motors said Thursday that it had agreed to give as much as $200 million to a parts supplier, American Axle and Manufacturing, to help settle a 10-week strike that has reduced or halted production at 32 G.M. factories.
Way to step up GM, way to freaking step up!! More from the New York Times
Unless I fail at searching (in which case I'll pull the diary), there seems to be hardly a mention here on Kos about the following story:
Thousands of dockworkers at 29 West Coast ports, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, took the day off work today in what their union called a protest of the war in Iraq, effectively shutting down operations at the busy complexes.
Longshoremen to close ports on West Coast to protest war
by Jack Heyman, SF Chronicle
Letter from ILWU Pres. McEllrath to John Sweeney
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
While millions of people worldwide have marched against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and last week's New York Times/CBS News poll indicated that 81 percent believe the country is headed in the wrong direction - key concerns being the war and the economy - the war machine inexorably grinds on.
Amid this political atmosphere, dockworkers of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have decided to stop work for eight hours in all U.S. West Coast ports on May 1, International Workers' Day, to call for an end to the war.
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/...
Not sure if this is going to happen or not. The strike may be declared illegal, which means the longshoremen will be forced to work.
http://www.king5.com/...
