Boot Biters

Right on the tail end of the Flint General Motors Sit-Down came another sit-down, this time at a Woolworth's Five and Dime in Detroit and composed entirely by mostly young women and teenagers. Tired of poor pay, long hours, and gross treatment from management, the workers led by a candy attendant named Vita Terrall approached a local union for support. With no prior strike experience, they still threatened to occupy the store until their demands were met. Over the course of 7 days, they came together to turn an uncertain and tense situation into a party-like atmosphere, maintained their demands even in the face of a patronizing press, and came out on the other end with a major win, inspiring a series of other strikes and sit-downs across the hotel, restaurant, and retail industry.

Let's get into it!

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBiters

In our second episode covering the the 1936-37 Great General Motors Sit-Down Strike, we dig into the logistics of a 44-day long sit down at Fisher Plant No. 1 in Flint, Michigan including the zany ways people stay entertained while hunkered down in a factory, we cover Fisher Plant No. 2's victory in rebuffing an attack by police during the tongue-in-cheek named Battle of the Running Bulls, and discover the extreme lengths the union had to go to to counter GM's espionage, including an elaborate secret plan to occupy another much larger plant: Chevy No. 4. that finally forced GM to the table.

Let's get into it!

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBiters

Whenever I think "oh, this will just be a quick episode!" I'm proven wrong instantly. In the midst of the Great Depression, auto workers at General Motors plants across the country—but particularly in Michigan—were facing speed ups, pay cuts, dangerous working conditions, and outright abuse and assault by anti-union forces. Workers at Fisher Plant No. 1 in Flint, Michigan decided to do something bold about it. Popularizing a wave of sit-down strikes, workers occupied the plant for 44 days, coming out on the other end with union recognition, better pay, and wider ramifications for the entire global auto industry.

Buckle up nerds, this is another Jason Bourne-level saga of espionage, sabotage, and inspiring courage in the face of it all.

Let's get into it!

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In this jam-packed episode we explore a series of strikes led by oil workers at the Abadan oil refinery in Iran, culminating in an oil industry general strike in 1946. We dive into the advent of the global oil industry, British colonization and economic exploitation through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, explore the impact of WWII occupation of Iran on Iranian workers, the segregated company city of Abadan, and learn about the labor movement that bloomed in spite of repressive conditions, eventually leading to oil nationalization—which is a-whole-nother story.

Let's get into it!

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In this episode, we're taking a slight tangent to put a critical eye on a controversial strike/rebellion that you almost certainly know of if you're Australian, but you might not have heard about otherwise! I sure didn't. The Eureka Rebellion saw a group of angry settler gold miners briefly take up arms against the British colonial government in response to increasing taxes, police violence, corruption, and a lack of representation. It's an event with a complex history that often gets simplified and sampled by various groups. To some it's the advent of Australian democracy, to others it's merely an extension of settler colonialism. It doesn't help that the Eureka flag has unfortunately been co-opted by white nationalists in recent years. We're going to examine why (and draw some connections to U.S. mythologizing history and national narratives too - it wouldn't be Boot Biters if we didn't!).

Let's get into it!

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In the 4th (AND FINAL!!!!) part of our West Virginia Mine Wars coverage, we're diving into the most tumultuous period of the mine wars, the absolute batshit crazy summer of 1921, the murder of Sit Hatfield, the armed miner's march, and the Battle of Blair Mountain.

Need I say more?

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In the 3rd part of our West Virginia Mine War coverage, we're diving into the Matewan Massacre, the infamous confrontation when Matewan Chief of Police and unexpected union ally Sid Hatfield and Mayor Testerman confronted prominent Baldwin Felts agents in the middle of an illegal eviction. We also cover the importance of Mingo and Logan counties that found themselves in the middle of a heated tug of war match between the union and operators and we explore the wild, continuous violence that the region saw in the aftermath of the Matewan Massacre as a heavily publicized trial drew national attention to the region, the new strike dragged on, and tensions reached critical mass. Let's get into it!

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In the 2nd part of our West Virginia Mine War coverage, we're diving into the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike, when coal companies in Paint Creek refused to recognize union negotiations for a simple wage adjustment and lit the metaphorical match on a bed of gasoline-doused straw. We cover more Baldwin Felts shenanigans including the Bull Moose Special, along with the Dirty Eleven and the guerrilla tactics used by strikers in retaliation. We cover the state intervention that included threatening workers with deportation if they didn't accept a bare bones settlement to go back to work. And we also learn more about the schism between rank and file strikers like Frank Keeney and Fred Mooney and union leadership that saw strikers continue to fight back, with or without union support, until they got what they wanted. Let's get into it!

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

Before we talk about major events like the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike, the Matewan Massacre, and the Battle of Blair Mountain, we need to understand how a full-blown worker insurrection comes to be. In this episode we contextualize the violence that was inherent in West Virginia's company coal towns. They really had it all: stolen wages, police in the pockets of coal companies, freedoms of speech and assembly non-existent, forced evictions, intimidation, beatings, and murders. There's a reason that workers felt they had no other option than to fight back. We also learn about labor leaders Frank Keeney, Fred Mooney, Sarah Blizzard, and Mother Jones and discuss the UMWA's prior activity and challenges in the region. Buckle up, because this is the start of a wild ride.

Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:

• Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/
• You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!

• Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspod

• BlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.social

Support the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBiters

Credits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

***Warning: this one's got some fruity language and touches on some darker themes very applicable to the present day.****

With increasing boldness from ICE and CBP, it felt right for a timely reminder that the U.S. security apparatus has always had a problem with exerting violent and sometimes deadly force against workers, but especially BIPOC and immigrant workers. In 1913, not for the first time, Colorado sent in its National Guard to quell a strike of miners against their company Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I). Working with deputized militia, company mine guards, and Baldwin Felts agents, the results of this was one of the deadliest strike breakings we've seen in U.S. history. Let's get into it.

Know Your Rights Trainings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0iF8mWgjrs - Video training led by AOC and The Immigration Defense Project (IDP)

https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/know-your-rights-with-ice/

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/immigrants-rights

Reporting Hotlines, and Legal and Advocacy Services for Immigrants:

https://nnirr.org/education-resources/community-resources-legal-assistance-recursos-comunitarios-asistencia-legal/immigration-hotlines-lineas-directas-de-inmigracion/ - Multiple reporting hotlines listed by state

https://www.freedomforimmigrants.org/hotline - If you are detained, dial 9233# from within a facility to reach the National Immigration Detention Hotline (free and unmonitored)

https://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonprofit/legaldirectory/