Today in Labor History October 13

Today in Labor History October 13, 1902: Teddy Roosevelt threatened to send in federal troops as strikebreakers to crush a coal strike. The strike by anthracite coal miners in eastern Pennsylvania was led by the United Mineworkers of America (UMWA). The region had had dozens of previous strikes led by earlier and now defunct unions like the WBA. The UMWA was created 12 years prior, when the Knights of Labor Assembly #35 merged with the National Progressive Miners Union. Over 100,000 miners participated in the strike, threatening to cut off heating fuel for most of the country. It was also the first strike settled by federal arbitration. The miners won a 9-hours work day (down from 10) and a 10% wage increase.

Today in Labor History October 13, 1909: Francisco Ferrer, founder of the Modern School movement, was executed in Spain by the Catholic Monarchists. Ferrer was an anarchist educator who opposed the Church’s monopoly over education in Spain. He created that state’s first secular, co-educational schools that taught poor and affluent children side by side. On July 28, the authorities declared martial law throughout Spain. In September, they captured Ferrer and locked him in the fortress of Montjuich in Barcelona. During a kangaroo court, a jury convicted him of fomenting the insurrection. The authorities executed him by firing squad on October 13, 1909. His execution led to worldwide condemnation and protests. George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as anarchists and radicals like Peter Kropotkin and Emma Goldman protested the execution.

Today in Labor History October 13, 1909: Demonstrations occurred throughout Europe in protest of the execution of Francisco Ferrer. Violent confrontations between protesters and police occurred in Paris, where over 500,000 people turned out. 20,000 demonstrated in Argentina and led to a General Strike.

Today in Labor History October 13, 1934: The AFL voted to boycott all German-made products in protest of Nazi antagonism to organized labor and their violence against Jews.

Today in Labor History October 13, 1985: Over 1,100 mostly female and minority office workers went on strike against Columbia University in New York City, ultimately winning union recognition and raises.

October 13, 1999: Thugs forced workers at a Del Monte subsidiary in Izabel, Guatemala, to quit their jobs at gunpoint, as bosses attempted to prevent a strike.