Today in Labor History November 15, 1881: The “Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions” (FOTLU), a precursor to the American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded on this date.
November 15, 1919: The main headquarters of the New York City Wobblies (IWW) was ransacked and destroyed by agents acting under the US Attorney General Palmer. The Palmer raids were part of the first U.S. communist witch hunt, starting well before the more well-known McCarthy purges. It was also where J. Edgar Hoover cut his baby teeth.
Today in Labor History November 15, 1922: A General Strike was called by the anarchosyndicalist-inspired union FTRE, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The strike united nearly all the workers and craftsmen in the city. The authorities attacked the workers, killing at least 300. Most were shot to death or stabbed by bayonets. Workers were demanding wage increases, shorter hours, safer working conditions, and government control of foreign currency exchange rates.
November 15, 1936: 1,800 militiamen from the anarchist Durutti Column entered Madrid to fight the fascists. Madrid was the first large city in the world to be subjected to a fascist attack as a prelude to WWII. By November 18th, only 700 of the 1800 anarchist militiamen were still fighting. Many had died and others had deserted because of hunger and sleep deprivation. Durutti persuaded some to return to their positions, but was himself mortally wounded on November 20.
Today in Labor History November 15, 1938: The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) had its first constitutional convention.
November 15, 1987: 6,000 anti-government strikers sacked the city hall of Brasov, Romania. They were rebelling against the communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu.