Working Class History

In our series on the 1926 general strike, we tell the story of the strike with the words of workers who took part in it. Like Harry Watson, an East London dock worker who remembers when his union voted to support the miners. More here: patreon.com/posts/e118-192… #GeneralStrike100

#OtD 28 Mar 1977 1300 mostly Black sanitation workers in Atlanta walked off the job for a 50 cent an hour pay increase. Atlanta's first Black mayor, who came to power on the back of civil rights & Black power movts, sacked them all stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10035/…

#OtD 28 Mar 1939 the Stanbrook ship left Alicante carrying 3500 refugees fleeing Franco's victory in the Civil War. It went to North African French colonies, where many of the refugees were interned in camps and used as forced labour in the Sahara desert stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10034/…

#OtD 28 Mar 1919 the state of Arkansas joined most US states in banning anarchism and communism. The law to "define and punish anarchy and… Bolshevism" barred revolutionary activism and red and black flags, with up to six months jail as a punishment stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10033/…

#OtD 28 Mar 1915 anarchist Emma Goldman delivered a lecture in NYC on family planning, despite having previously been arrested for doing so. Although she gave explicit information on birth control and police were present, she wasn't arrested this time. stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10031/…

#OtD 28 Mar 2022 the railway line headed into Vyeraytsy station in Belarus was sabotaged by anti-war activists: one of multiple attacks on Belarus rail infrastructure by opponents of the Russian invasion of Ukraine the previous month stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7931/v…

#OtD 28 Mar 1918 Trotsky made an announcement ending elected officers in the Red Army so that former Tsarist officers could be restored. Slacking workers were also to be shamed in Soviet newspapers and specialists take over factory management from workers stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10032/…

#OtD 27 Mar 1945 First Nations activist Annie Mae Aquash was born in Nova Scotia. Moving to the US she got involved in the American Indian Movement and took part in the Wounded Knee occupation. Tragically, she was murdered in 1975 stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9932/a…

#OtD 27 Mar 1912 rail workers of various nationalities in BC, Canada went on strike. Led by the revolutionary @IWW union, thousands joined and worker-run camps were built. Joe Hill even came and wrote his famous song "Where the Fraser River Flows." workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e52-th…

#OtD 27 Mar 1981 a four-hour 'warning strike' by the Solidarity union took place in Poland. It involved between 10-12 million people, and was the biggest strike in the Soviet bloc stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7926/m…

#OtD 27 Mar 1984 a bomb exploded in the union Trades Hall in Wellington, New Zealand, killing union member Ernie Abbott and badly burning his dog. Despite police HQ being across the street, nobody was caught for this anti-worker terrorist attack stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9933/w…

In our latest episode, we're so lucky to be able to tell the story of the 1926 General Strike using the voices of workers involved. People like Betty Harrison who began work in Bradford's textile industry when she was just 13. More here: patreon.com/posts/e118-192… #GeneralStrike100

#OtD 27 Mar 1993 the Red Army Faction (aka the Baader-Meinhof group) blew up the Weiterstadt prison under construction after removing everyone from the premises, causing $93 million in damages. It was to be the group's last armed action. Learn more: shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/bo…

#OtD 27 Mar 1942 France's Vichy govt issued a decree demanding barbers to collect cut hair and donate it to the war effort. The Zazous (rebellious anti-fascist youths) refused and grew their hair long. More info in our podcast: workingclasshistory.com/podcast/72-ede…

#OtD 27 Mar 1997 @Robbie9Fowler was fined for showing support for sacked dockworkers during a European Cup Winners Cup match. After scoring his second goal in Liverpool's 3-0 victory, Fowler displayed a T-shirt reading "Support the 500 sacked dockers" stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9936/r…

#OtD 27 Mar 1918 Bolshevik secret police agents tried to arrest a clown during his show for satirising the new regime. The audience thought it was part of the act but the clown fled and the agents shot their revolvers into the air, panicking the crowd stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9929/c…

#OtD 27 Mar 1904 Mother Jones, the legendary Irish-American labour organiser, was ordered out of Colorado by authorities for "stirring up" striking coal miners stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9927/m…

In our series on the 1926 general strike, we tell the story of the strike with the words of workers who took part in it. Like Harry Watson, an East London dock worker who remembers when his union voted to support the miners. More here: patreon.com/posts/e118-192… #GeneralStrike100

#OtD 27 Mar 1881 rioting took place in Basingstoke, UK, in protest of the daily vociferous promotion of teetotalism by the @salvationarmyuk. 3000 people blocked a Salvation Army march before fighting broke out and the mayor read the riot act stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9926/b…

#OtD 27 Mar 1943 gay anti-fascist Willem Arondeus led a group in bombing the Amsterdam Public Records Office that Nazis used to identify Dutch Jews. Arrested, before his execution, Arondeus wanted it to be known that "homosexuals are not cowards." stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9931/a…