1934 Minneapolis Teamsters strike photo gallery
Submitted by Juan Conatz on Jul 20 2012 21:09
Images from the 1934 Teamsters strike in Minneapolis, one of the most iconic strikes in American history. The strikers shut down transport of goods in the city and battled police and employer vigilante groups.
One day in July: Remembering the 1934 Minneapolis Teamster strike
Submitted by Juan Conatz on Jul 19 2012 20:39
An article written on the 1934 strike in Minneapolis for the 'One Day in July' festival.
[i]THE 1934 MINNEAPOLIS TRUCKERS STRIKE On "Bloody Friday", July 20,1934,at 3rd and 6th, 67 striking truckdrivers and their supporters were shot by Minneapolis police, acting on orders from the Citizens Alliance, an anti-labor employers' group, which controlled city government. Seventy-five years later, WE REMEMBER THEIR SACRIFICE!
The Teamster Raid on the UTU: A Dispatch from the civil war in the Canadian Transport Industry
Submitted by Recomposition on Jul 6 2012 22:10
This article is based on several interviews with workers that IWW members spoke with while supporting a couple strikes at Canada National Rail. The piece deals with the politics of the several unions who were all vying to become the One Big Union on the railways. It’s also worth looking at the rhetoric and practice of current contemporary Industrial Unionism and the revolutionary vision of the early 20th Century. There’s a lot of talk about mergers and consolidation right now in the labour movement. This is something pay attention to over the next few years.
The union seemed to start out in a strong position with a strike mandate from the membership of over 95%, but early in the strike cracks began to form. While the Canadian administration of the United Transit Union (UTU) was 100% behind the strike the international body based out of Cleveland Ohio, claimed they had to be asked first before workers could walk off the job.
How Teamsters quelled fascist thugs
Submitted by working class s... on May 7 2012 23:04
Excerpts from the book Teamster Politics by Farrell Dobbs describing how in the 1930s Teamsters Local 544 and other unionists formed a defense guard that pushed back the Silver Shirts, a fascist outfit that was spawned from the deepening capitalist economic crisis of the 1930s.
Clashes between capital and labor in times of social crisis tend to stimulate activity among political demagogues with a fascist mentality. They anticipate that intensification of the class struggle will cause sections of the ruling class to turn away from parliamentary democracy and its methods of rule, and resort to fascism as the way to hold on to state power and protect special privilege….
United States: Workers on the Move - Fred Pilgotsky
Article appearing in International Socialism, No.70, Mid-June 1974, by auto worker and socialist Fred Pilgotsky. In it he talks about wildcats in the auto industry, the conflicts between the unions and the rank-and-file, and the significance of race in the US.
LAST JULY two black production workers, Larry Carter and Isaac Shorter, climbed over the gate to the power control panel in one of Detroit’s largest car assembly plants, the Jefferson Assembly Rant, and cut off the power to the spot-welding department.
Sometimes We Don't Even Get to the Point of Winning or Losing...
Submitted by Juan Conatz on Oct 20 2010 04:56
Reading The American Worker and old Italian operaismo surveys of auto workers, it occurred to me that it would be worth documenting some of my own experiences in wage labor. We often forget how powerful and important first person accounts of what happens to us are.
In December of 2004 a warehouse I was working in through a temp agency was taken over by the company whose products were stored there. Everyone had to reapply for their jobs and due to my previous experience and the fact that two 'leads' recommended me to the company, I was hired on.
Hot Under The Collar
more dirt on "clean rooms" by dennis hayes and
update on cannery workers' strike settlement, by primitivo morales
Chips 'n' Dips
The microchip industry's credibility regarding workers' health has dipped so low that the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) recently invoked its own tattered image to dodge fresh evidence of dirt in its "clean" rooms.
Teamsters local opposes Iraq war - Uprise! press release
Submitted by Steven. on Feb 16 2007 10:45
Press release from revolutionary UPS workers group Uprise! announcing its Teamsters Local 705 approving its resolution to oppose the drive for the Iraq war.
1934: Minneapolis Teamsters strike
Submitted by Alex... on Nov 26 2006 23:04
A history of the 1934 strike of Teamsters in Minneapolis and the organising of workers of trucking companies across the city prior to it.
Minneapolis at the turn of 1934 was one of the major hauling centres of the United States, and the major distribution centre in the Upper Midwest with thousands of truck drivers employed in the city's trucking industry.
Orange Country refuse strike continues
Submitted by Ramona on Oct 26 2006 15:00
Temporary workers have been hired to resume refuse collection in several cities across Orange County.
Around 300 workers belonging to the Teamsters union walked out on Monday after negotiations lasting 20 days failed. They are demanding higher wages, better healthcare plans and fairer treatment. The strikers include truck drivers, mechanics, welders and tire men.
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