Today in Labor History July 1, 1766: French authorities tortured, beheaded and burnt François-Jean de la Barre on a pyre for reading Voltaire’s Dictionnaire philosophique and, more importantly, for not saluting a Roman Catholic religious procession in Abbeville, France. The articles in Voltaire’s work included critiques of the Catholic Church, as well as Judaism and Islam. The general public loved the book, which sold out quickly after its first, anonymous, printing. The religious authorities hated it and censored it in France and Switzerland.
1860s-1870
July 1, 1863: The Netherlands abolished slavery in Suriname. Suriname now celebrates July 1 as Keti Koti (Emancipation Day). However, slavery continued until after 1873 because the Dutch imposed a 10-year transitional period in which “former” slaves were forced at gunpoint to continue working on their plantations for minimal pay.
Today in Labor History July 1, 1876: Anarchist leader Michael Bakunin died in Berne, Switzerland.
Homestead Massacre
Today in Labor History July 1, 1892: Carnegie Steel locked out workers at its Homestead, PA, plant. The lockout culminated in a major battle between strikers and Pinkerton security agents on July 6. Determined to keep the plant closed and inoperable by scabs, the strikers formed military units that patrolled the grounds around the plant, and the Monongahela River in boats, to prevent access by strikebreakers and their Pinkerton guards.
On the night of July 5, Pinkertons, armed with Winchester rifles, attempted to cross the river. Reports conflict as to which side fired first, but a gun battle ensued. Both sides suffered numerous deaths and injuries. Women participated in the action, calling on strikers to kill the Pinkertons. In the end, the Pinkertons gave up and surrendered. However, the governor called in the state militia, which quickly displaced the picketers and allowed the scabs in, thus ending the strike. In the wake of the bloody strike, Alexander Berkman, an anarchist, tried to assassinate Henry Clay Frick, Carnegie’s agent at Homestead.
I. K. Friedman wrote about the strike in “By Bread Alone” (1901). Friedman was a Chicago socialist, settlement-house worker and journalist. His novel was an early example of the transformation in socialist fiction from “utopian” to “scientific” socialism. More recently, Trilby Busch wrote about the strike in her novel, “Darkness Visible” (2012).
Today in Writing History July 1, 1896: American writer and activist, Harriet Beecher Stowe, died.
1910s
Today in Labor History July 1, 1910 – The ILGWU organized a large strike, known as the “Great Revolt” involving 60,000 cloak-makers that lasted through October. Taking their lead from the women, the mostly male cloak-makers won uniform wages, a shorter work week and paid holidays. However, in exchange, they signed a contract giving up their right to strike in exchange for mandatory arbitration. While this is a common clause in union contracts today, it significantly weakens unions since strikes are one of the few tactics that truly frighten the bosses. Nevertheless, the strikes in 1909 and 1910, caused the ILGWU membership to swell.
July 1, 1915: American bluesman, Willie Dixon, was born. He was one of the most influential blues songwriters and performers of the post-World War II era. Some of his most well-known (and most covered) songs include: My Babe, Spoonful, Hoochie Coochie Man, Little Red Rooster, I Just Want To Make Love To You, Wang Dang Doodle, Pretty Thing, I Ain’t Superstitious, The Seventh Son, You Shook Me, Back Door Man and You Can’t Judge a Book By Looking At Its Cover. His music was an important link between blues and rock and roll. Sadly, many rock and rollers stole his music and made more money from the songs than he ever did. However, in 1987, he did reach an out-of-court settlement with Led Zeppelin, the band that probably gained the most from plagiarizing his music.
1920s-1930s
Today in Labor History July 1, 1922: 1,000,000 railroad shop workers walked off their jobs, initiating what became known as the “Big Strike,” or the “Great Railroad Strike of 1922.” It was the biggest railroad strike since the Eugene Debs-led Great Railroad strike of 1894. They eventually lost the strike and many members were blacklisted. And the authorities killed at least 10 strikers and family members during the strike.
Today in Labor History July 1, 1937: The Hawaiian longshore strike brought together Japanese, Filipino and other ethnic plantation workers into one labor union (ILWU).
1960s-1980s
Today in Writing History July 1, 1961: French author, physician and fascist, Louis-Ferdinand Celine died.
Today in Labor History July 1, 1968: The United Auto Workers (UAW) under the leadership of Walter Reuther, left the AFL, partly because of conflicts between Reuther and AFL president George Meany. Reuther died (was killed?) in a plane crash in 1970, and the UAW did not rejoin the AFL until 1981.
July 1, 1977: A judge sentence Native American activist Leonard Peltier to two consecutive life terms for the killing of two FBI agents who died while attacking an American Indian Movement (AIM) encampment. However, there no evidence directly linked him to their deaths and he continues to maintain his innocence.
Today in Labor History July 1, 1983: Copper miners began a strike against Phelps-Dodge in Clifton, Arizona. During the strike, company-owned railroad bridges were set on fire and strikers smashed windows of scab vehicles. Governor Bruce Babbitt repeatedly sent in state police and National Guardsmen to suppress and ultimately crush the strike. Replacement workers then voted to decertify the union in the largest mass decertification in U.S. history. 35 locals of 13 different unions representing Phelps-Dodge workers were all decertified. Within a couple of years, their profits skyrocketed 15-fold to $420 million per year.