Today in Labor History October 5, 1789: The Women’s March on Versailles put an end to royal authority. The October March was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution. The march began with a near riot at the Parisian markets over the high price and scarcity of bread. Encouraged by revolutionary agitators, thousands of women ransacked the armory, stole weapons and marched to the Palace of Versailles. The mob besieged the palace. This forced King Louis XVI to give in to their demands. It also marked the end the king’s independence and authority, and the beginning of a new balance of power that favored the nation’s common people, collectively termed the Third Estate.
Today in Labor History October 5, 1910: A revolution in Portugal overthrew the monarchy and declared the First Portuguese Republic.
Today in Labor History October 5, 1934: 40,000 miners and iron workers went on strike against the right-wing government of Spain. The strike turned into a revolutionary uprising. Workers seized towns throughout Asturias, killing large numbers of cops and religious leaders. They declared a Proletarian Republic and instituted their own government in the occupied territories. This uprising was one of the early events of the Spanish Civil War. The federal government responded with intense repression. The authorities executed thousands of miners and tortured thousands more. They also imprisoned 30-40,000 workers.
Today in Labor History October 5, 1958: Clinton, Tennessee high school, which had been desegregated in 1956, was blown up by segregationists.
October 5, 1976: The United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Co. ended a three-week strike by agreeing to a contract that included an increase in vacation days and improved retirement and unemployment benefits.