Today in Labor History November 8, 1892: 20,000 black & white workers united for a General Strike in New Orleans. During a streetcar drivers labor victory earlier in the year, they won a closed shop and shorter workday. Then they launched a massive organizing campaign, creaing dozens of new unions and greater demands from the city’s workers. On October 24, several thousand members of the Triple Alliance (teamsters, scalesmen and packers) struck for overtime pay and the 10-hour day. Many members of the Alliance were African American. The bosses used race-baiting to try and divide the workers, but failed. Members of other unions started to join in solidarity, leading to a General Strike on November 8. The strike successfully bled the banks of half their pre-strike holdings. Finally, the bosses agreed to sit down with both black and white union leaders. Ultimately, they agreed to the 10-hour day and overtime pay, but not a universal closed union shop.
Today in Labor History November 8, 1897: Dorothy Day was born. She was a Christian anarchist, journalist and activist. In 1933, she cofounded the Catholic Worker movement with Peter Maurin. The movement combined a spiritual vision of social justice with trade unionism and other activism. They used nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience to fight for the rights of workers, the poor and homeless, and against war. Catholic Worker houses still exist throughout the country, providing hospice care, housing for activists, and support for various movements.
Today in Labor History November 8, 1923: Hitler led a failed coup d’etat in Munich, known as the Beerhall Putsch. Inspired by Mussolini’s march on Rome, roughly 2,000 Nazis marched on Munich. However, they were repelled by police, who killed 16 Nazis in the process. Hitler escaped, wounded, but was eventually caught and imprisoned. The putsch brought Hitler to the attention of the German public for the first time, and his trial gave him his first significant public platform. In prison, he dictated “Mein Kampf” to fellow prisoners, Rudolf Hess and Emil Maurice.
Today in Labor History November 8, 1942: The French Resistance led a coup in Algiers, in which 400 French civilians neutralized the Vichyist XIXth Army Corps. They also arrested several Vichyist generals, paving the way for the successful allied invasion of North African known as Operation Torch.
Today in Labor History November 8, 1968: Students at San Francisco State College went on strike, leading to what would become the longest student strike in U.S. history. The strike was led by the Black Student Union and a coalition of other student groups known as the Third World Liberation Front. The strike actually began on November 6, 1968 and lasted until March 20, 1969. Throughout the strike, activists were violently attacked by the San Francisco Police. The activists were demanding equal access to public higher education, more senior faculty of color and a new curriculum that would embrace the history and culture of all people including ethnic minorities. One of their victories was the creation of the College of Ethnic Studies in 1969, inspiring similar programs at hundreds of other universities.
Today in Labor History November 8, 1972: The “Trail of Broken Treaties” marchers occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Washington, DC.
Today in Labor History November 8, 1984: Striking miners attacked the Stainforth (England) police station.
November 8, 2006: The Israeli Defense Force killed 19 Palestinian civilians in their homes during the shelling of Beit Hanoun.
Today in Labor History November 8, 2013: Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, hit the Philippines, killing over 6,340 people and causing $2.86 billion in damage. Over 1,000 are still missing and unaccounted for.