Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Today in Labor History



2012.12.03-history-l-a-times-bldgDecember 05  -- SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

Unionists John T. and James B. McNamara were sentenced to 15 years and life, respectively, after confessing to dynamiting the Los Angeles Times building during a drive to unionize the metal trades in the city.  They placed the bomb in an alley next to the building, set to detonate when they thought the building would be empty; it went off early, and an unanticipated gas explosion and fire did the real damage, killing twenty people. The newspaper was strongly conservative and anti-union – 1911

Ending a 20-year split, the two largest labor federations in the U.S. merge to form the AFL-CIO, with a membership estimated at 15 million - 1955

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney welcomes the collapse of World Trade Organization talks in Seattle, declaring "No deal is better than a bad deal" - 1999

The U.S. Dept. of Labor reports employers slashed 533,000 jobs the month before -- the most in2012.12.03-history-23-things-capitalism 34 years -- as the Great Recession surged. The unemployment rolls had risen for 7 months before that and were to continue to soar for another 10 months before topping 10 percent and beginning to level off late the following year - 2008

(23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism is a concise blast of eye-opening economic truth-telling; essential reading to understand where free market thinking falls short and how we got to the mess we’re in today. If you've wondered how we did not see the Great Recession coming, Ha-Joon Chang knows the answer: We didn't ask what they didn't tell us about capitalism. This is a lighthearted book with a serious purpose: to question the assumptions behind the dogma and sheer hype that the dominant school of neoliberal economists -- the apostles of the free market -- have spun since the Age of Reagan.)


Today in #LaborHistory: Dec 5, 1933 -via- 'Rip and Ron'

The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was approved by Utah - the 36th state to do so - thereby repealing the 18th Amendment, effectively ending Prohibition of beer and wine (up
to 16% alcohol).

"The Women's Christian Temperance Union, which had been promoting Prohibition for many years, believed alcohol was the cause of many, if not all, social ills." - from http://www.repealday.org/

"By the end of the 1920s, even many prominent Prohibition advocates realized that Prohibition had failed and advocated for its repeal. Congress passed the 21st Amendment in February 1933." - from http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/dec-5-1933-ratification-of-21st-amendment-ends-prohibition/

"Clandestine distilleries grew like mushrooms in the city and countryside alike. Speakeasies flourished and the liquor flowed, even finding its way into the White House during Harding's administration. Alliances between politicians and gangsters assured the public would not want for alcohol." from http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snpmech2.htm
 

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