On This Day in Working Class History

On this day, 27 August 1889, the great strike of East End Jewish tailors in London began during a dockers' strike. 
8,000 workers, mostly Jewish immigrants from Russia, elected a strike committee and walked out, demanding a maximum 12-hour working day (they were working 14-18 hours). 
Despite the antipathy of the dockers' union leader, predominantly Irish Catholic dockers donated to the strike fund and helped the tailors hold out until October when the employers caved in. 
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9881/jewish-east-end-tailors-strike-begins

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.

• See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
• Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
• Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
• Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com
• If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 26 August 1972, Falkirk FC was due to play against Montrose in a Scottish League Cup football match, but Falkirk players had gone on strike and stated they would refuse to play unless a financial penalty imposed by their manager was rescinded.
Players, led by later Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, walked out during a prior training session, after manager Willie Cunningham withdrew food and travel expense payments from players to penalise them for losing a match, 6-1, against St Johnstone. Ferguson had previously been a union shop steward and taken part in wildcat strikes while working in the Glasgow shipyards.
Following the walkout, the club owners sided with players against the manager, rescinded the penalty and ultimately the incident led to Cunningham leaving his post as manager. The match went ahead and resulted in a 3-0 win for Falkirk.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7913/falkirk-fc-strike
Books and more on the radical history of football: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/all/football

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.

• See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
• Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
• Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
• Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com
• If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 25 August 1921, the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed rebellion in the US since the civil war, began in West Virginia.
Miners and their supporters had been killed in Welch and Sharples, and other miners were being held in jail under martial law in Mingo County, the last anti-union stronghold in the southern part of the state.
Thousands of striking coal miners, dubbed "rednecks" due to the red bandanas they wore around their necks, were determined to march on Mingo, and armed themselves. Union leaders ordered them to turn back, but thousands of miners ignored their leaders and headed onwards.
Meanwhile, mine bosses set up defences on Blair Mountain, which separated Mingo from the already-unionised territory. They deployed thousands of deputies, state police and mine guards, and also armed others like strikebreakers and store clerks, and set up machine-gun posts around the mountain.
The miners attacked, and fought days of fierce battles. Mine bosses also brought in National Guard and used planes to drop bombs on the miners. Eventually, federal troops were brought in, and facing their overwhelming firepower, the miners eventually surrendered or returned home by September 4.
You can learn more about the battle, and its context in the West Virginia Mine Wars, in our first graphic novel, Black Coal and Red Bandanas: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/all/products/black-coal-and-red-bandanas-an-illustrated-history-of-the-west-virginia-mine-wars
More info in our podcast episodes 57-58 on the West Virginia mine wars: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e57-west-virginia-mine-wars-1902-1922/
Pictured: a striking miner in the dispute 

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.

• See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
• Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
• Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
• Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com
• If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 24 August 1922, radical historian, author, World War II bombardier and activist, Howard Zinn, was born to a Jewish immigrant family in Brooklyn, New York City. 
Author of the book A People’s History of the United States and many other works, Zinn did perhaps more than anyone else in recent years to popularise the history of ordinary people, our history and our struggles. 
For Zinn, fighting for a better world wasn't just about the concrete outcomes of any particular struggles, but also about the transformative impact of those struggles themselves: "The reward for participating in a movement for social justice is not the prospect of future victory. It is the exhilaration of standing together with other people, taking risks together, enjoying small triumphs and enduring disheartening setbacks — together."
Learn more about Zinn’s life and work in his own words in our podcast episodes 69-70: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e69-70-howard-zinn-100/

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.

• See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
• Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
• Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
• Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com
• If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 23 August 1966, 200 Gurindji Aboriginal workers at the Wave Hill pastoral station in Australia walked out on strike for equal pay with white workers. At the time, it was against the law for Aboriginal workers to be paid more than a specific amount.
After walking out, the workers set up a camp, and kept up their strike for nine years. They received support from other workers, who donated supplies and money to a strike fund.
Over time, the demands of the strikers escalated, to include demands for the return of their ancestral lands, from British aristocrat Lord Vestey. 
They were eventually successful in being given back a proportion of the land. 
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9547/wave-hill-aboriginal-strike

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.

• See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
• Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
• Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
• Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com
• If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On 22 August 2005 at 4:30 AM over 100 workers at Air Vanuatu walked out on strike in a dispute over a collective bargaining agreement, job security and severance pay.
The stoppage, by members of the National Workers' Union, forced the cancellation of all international and domestic flights that day. In order to return to work, workers demanded arbitration of their complaints. Management agreed to this demand, and the workers returned to work.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7863/air-vanuatu-strike

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.

• See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
• Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
• Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
• Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com
• If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 21 August 1971, number 359 Amhurst Road, London, was raided by police investigating the Angry Brigade urban guerrilla group. Jim Greenfield, Anna Mendelson, John Barker and Hilary Creek were arrested. The four were taken to the 'Bomb Squad' HQ in Albany Street, London, where the two men were subjected to a brutal beating to extract a confession from them. 
Learn more about the group in episodes 83-84 of our podcast, in conversation with John Barker: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e83-4-angry-brigade/

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.

• See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
• Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
• Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
• Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com
• If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 20 August 1976, the Grunwick strike began in London when Devshi Bhudia was dismissed from a photo processing plant for working too slowly and three colleagues walked out in his support. 
Three days later they began picketing in what became an iconic dispute and one of the key struggles of the working class, particularly the Asian and female working class in the UK in the late 20th century. 
One worker who became a leader of the strike, Jayaben Desai, walked out as well and spoke to the initial group of workers who had downed tools and were in the car park, planning on vandalising the plant, and the boss's car.  She told them: "Don’t do that. You will damage yourself. They will call the police and it’s all insured. Nothing will happen to them but you will damage yourself." When they asked what they could do instead, Desai replied: "We can organise ourselves and we can make a union." 
The workers remained out for nearly two years, and while they were unsuccessful in achieving their stated aims, they helped transform the UK workers' movement by pushing white union workers to recognise Asian, Black and migrant workers as their fellow workers rather than as rivals for jobs.
Learn the history of the strike in our podcast episodes 67-68: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/grunwick-strike-1976/ 

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.

• See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
• Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
• Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
• Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com
• If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 19 August 1909, the first edition of the revolutionary Industrial Workers of the World union’s Little Red Songbook was published in the US. Spreading faster than many radical texts, these songs were sung by thousands on picket lines across the country in the coming years, including perhaps the most famous, 'Solidarity Forever', written by Ralph Chaplin during a miners' strike in West Virginia in 1912. It also included numerous songs by Joe Hill, the Swedish immigrant IWW activist who was executed by the state of Utah in 1915.
We have made available this book in our online store compiling loads of IWW songs. Proceeds help fund our work: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/books/products/the-big-red-songbook-250-iww-songs

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.

• See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
• Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
• Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
• Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com
• If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 18 August 1812, food riots broke out in Leeds and Sheffield, England, primarily led by women. In Leeds the local paper described the group of women and boys who were seizing corn and wheat, and assaulting sellers, as being "dignified with the title of Lady Ludd". In Sheffield flour dealers were forced to reduce their prices to 3 shillings per stone. 
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8955/lady-ludd-food-riots-in-leeds

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.

• See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
• Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
• Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
• Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com
• If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History