Today in Labor History December 19, 1900: French parliament gave to amnesty everyone who participated in the scandalous army treason trial known as the Dreyfus affair. The scandal began in 1894 when the state convicted Captain Alfred Dreyfus of treason. He was a 35-year-old French artillery officer of Jewish descent, falsely convicted for espionage and imprisoned in Devil’s Island in French Guiana. Émile Zola’s open letter “J’Accuse” helped build a movement of support for Dreyfus, putting pressure on the government to reopen the case. In 1899, Dreyfus was returned to France, retried and convicted again, but was pardoned and released. They eventually reinstated him as a major and he served during the World War I. Roman Polanski made a film about the affair called “J’Accuse,” after the Zola letter. However, much of Europe and the U.S. banned screenings of the film due to Polanski’s U.S. rape conviction.
Today in Labor History December 19, 1907: 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania, known as the Darr Mine Disaster. It was the third major U.S. mine disaster in December 1907 (the deadliest mine fatality month in US history).
Today in Labor History December 19, 1927: The British Raj executed three Indian revolutionaries, Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh and Ashfaqulla Khan for participation in the Kakori conspiracy. The Kakori conspiracy was a train robbery in 1925 organized by Hindustan Republican Association, during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Raj.
Today in Labor History December 19, 1983: The Greyhound bus strike ended when members of the Amalgamated Transit Union ratified a sell-out contract slashing wages and benefits.
Today in Labor History December 19, 1984: 27 workers at Wilberg Mine died due to a speedup disaster in Orangeville, Utah.
Today in Labor History December 19, 2001: The Argentine government declared a state of siege to stop the worst looting and rioting in a decade sparked by austerity measures and poverty.
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