Opinion: Understanding the roots of labor in the U.S.
To the community,
When I heard of the general strike in Oakland, I thought of Harry Bridges who led the general strike that shutdown the city of Seattle.
The U.S.A. has a bloody history, maybe the bloodiest labor history among the Western nations. In May 1886, the Haymarket Massacre occurred in Chicago. Seven police died. Seventy were wounded. Seven labor leaders were sentenced to death.
Bill Crawford
In 1892, the Homestead Massacre occurred. It was a steel workers strike for the right to organize. The strike was broken by the company hiring 300 Pinkerton detectives. Seven died. Finally, the state militia (Pennsylvania) was brought in and stayed for four months. No effective steel union was organized until the 1930.
On July 14, 1892, martial law was declared in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Silver miners were on strike. Federal troops were dispatched to the area.
In 1894, the Pullman strike occurred. President Grover Cleveland sent federal troops in.
Much of the “unrest” centered around labor’s attempt to organize and bargain for a 40-hour work week and to get a national holiday, Labor Day.
May 30, 1937, the Memorial Day Massacre occurred. Steel workers were demonstrating in South Chicago. They were fired upon by the police. Four were killed, 84 injured.
Presently, organized labor’s numbers are shrinking. There are right to work laws in some states. In an industrial economy, if labor isn’t organized, who will represent the working man and woman? Who will speak for those on the bottom? And as the middle class continues to shrink and sink to the bottom, we are regressing to the day when working people will be reduced to chattel. And the too big to fail banks, etc., will be masters over a nation of Winston Smiths.
Bill Crawford, South Lake Tahoe
The root of many problems we’re having today is the formation of the federal reserve and private banking being given the power to control the nation’s money supply. Why should they be favored with borrowing the country’s money at near zero percent then taking a margin on loaning it back to us? When’s the last time you got to borrow at that rate?
Deregulation gutting Glass-Steagall and the Commodity Futures Modernization act led by banker buddy Phil Gramm in the dark of night in early 2000, pushed by Robert Rubin and Larry Summers, and signed onto by Clinton sealed the deal and led to the crisis and meltdown of 2008. A bipartisan disaster. Now, a lot of the toxic securitized loans are still sitting on the books of the taxpayers and large financial entities. This isn’t over, and round 2 looms on the horizon.
The large financial interests essentially own both political parties. A populist candidate right now with charisma and smarts might make a valid third party effort in this environment.
But it would only split the Democratic party vote primarily, and the party of Mittens Romney, fully embraced by the bankers, would end up even more in charge.
The problem is daunting for the average person and working man. The only action at this point that seems to bring any satisfaction, small though it may be, is moving your money out of the big banks into credit unions. Today’s the official national day for doing that. I already did, mostly.
Long run, we need to separate investment banks from commercial banks and set up state banks to give low interest loans to local businesses and state infrastructure projects, like North Dakota does very successfully.
Commercial banks need to become more like public utilities, and investment banks would be at full risk for their own gambles without any bailouts. A financial tobin tax on short term stock and commodity speculation and on automatic computer trading is also needed to rein that in and make it cost the abusers and make them think twice about how they do that.
Somehow, the favoritism to the financial sector and giving control of the money supply back to the citizens needs to occur. How that happens, with all hope peacefully, will be a big turning page in this country’s history. With the money boys buying all the politicians, I’m not sure anything short of a huge revolt can make this happen.
By the way, there’s an article in the Chron today about how Harry Bridges shut down and reshaped San Francisco. Did he spend time in Seattle too?
Well said. I would also mention the San Francisco longeshoreman’s strike (35,000 workers participated, hundreds hospitalized, two killed) and the Ludlow massacre (dozens were killed including women and children). It’s shameful that the rights these people fought for are now being stripped away.
“Favoritism to the financial sector needs to stop” is what I meant to say in my second to last paragraph…
Ah. Harry Bridges was part of the 1934 San Francisco strike, didn’t know that . .
With today’s Federal and State worker protection laws AND the fact that there’s one lawyer for every ten citizens, unions are obsolete and unnecessary. They’ve served their purpose and outlived their usefulness.
Tahoe shold be a place where we’re oblivious to such matters.
The Nation as a whole has forgot to protest for rights the people need.
Todays youths and new leaders have no idea how get things done,or care much about anything that doesn’t come down from the higher Bosses.
The worldwide net has made dummies out the social classes, people don’t know how to speak or interactive with each other anymore in person.
Sad but true.