1910s-1920s
Today in Labor History March 12, 1912: The IWW won their Bread and Roses textile strike in Lawrence, MA. This was the first strike to use the moving picket line, implemented to avoid arrest for loitering. The workers came from 24 different countries and spoke 22 different languages. To facilitate the challenging job of organizing such a diverse workforce, the IWW organized workers by linguistic group and trained organizers who could speak each of the languages. Each language group got a delegate on the strike committee and had complete autonomy.
Today in Labor History March 12, 1912: Shingle workers went on strike in Raymond, WA.
Today in Labor History March 12, 1928: The St. Francis Dam failed in Los Angeles, California, killing 431 people. It was the second deadliest disaster in California, after the 1906 earthquake. A defective foundation caused the failure. The inquest absolved chief engineer, William Mulholland, of all criminal responsibility and he continued to earn a salary from the Bureau of Public Works. The authorities continued to find victims until the mid-1950s. The resulting flood swept many victims out to sea. Some washed ashore as far south as Mexico.
1960s
Today in Labor History March 12, 1967: Suharto took power from Sukarno in Indonesia. He ruled Indonesia as an authoritarian, kleptocratic dictator for 31 years. During that time, he amassed a fortune worth $38 billion. He rose to power under Sukarno during the 1965-1966 genocide. During that ostensibly anti-Communist purge, Suharto’s troops murdered up to 1.0 million communists, labor activists, peasants and ethnic minorities. In 1974, the Suharto regime, with approval of U.S. president Gerald Ford, invaded East Timor, killing over 200,000 Timorese. Another 75,000-200,000 died from starvation and disease.
1990s
Today in Labor History March 12, 1996: Riots erupted in Timika, Irian Jaya, disrupting Freeport mine operations. Over 1,000 Irianese people rampaged through town, hijacking cars and damaging buildings. Rioting against the Freeport mine spread to neighboring towns, as well. Freeport is owned by a U.S. company. It is the largest goldmine in the world.
Today in Labor History March 12, 1999: Former Warsaw Pact members Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined NATO. This contributed to the current conflict in Ukraine by placing more pro-Western bases and missiles on or near Russia’s western borders, thus increasing fears of a NATO attack. NATO now includes Estonia and Latvia, which directly border Russia, as well as Lithuania and Poland, which border the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, also NATO members, border Russia’s neighbors Belarus and Ukraine. Turkey, another NATO country, borders Russia’s neighbor Georgia and is a short boat ride from Crimea. Ukraine, Belarus and Finland are currently the only countries left on Russia’s western borders that are not yet NATO members.