Today in Labor History

Detroit Newspaper workers on strike

Martial law was declared in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, with National Guards and federal troops coming to “restore order” after the dynamiting at the Frisco mine on July 11. – 1892

600 Pressed Steel Car employees went out on strike, supported and encouraged by the IWW. Company President Frank N. Hoffstat immediately fired those who had walked out and hired replacement workers. The next day, IWW representatives led thousands of immigrant workers out in support of the strike, initiating a two-month-long work action that was punctuated by numerous violent clashes. – 1909

The Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union organized in Tyronza, Arkansas. The Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union was one of only a few unions in the 1930s that was open to all races. Promoting not only nonviolent protest for their fair share of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration money, they also promoted the idea that blacks and whites could work efficiently together. Because these ideas were highly controversial at the time, the Farmers’ Union met with harsh resistance from the landowners and local public officials. The Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union leaders were often harassed and ignored. – 1934

Newspaper workers struck against The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. Hundreds of workers were locked out in the strike. – 1995

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