tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post5200564059047297807..comments2024-03-28T15:05:10.372-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/28/24: This is nothing new...Neil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-56118493065806140022018-06-29T00:44:03.679-05:002018-06-29T00:44:03.679-05:00I was still in junior high when I watched an NBC d...I was still in junior high when I watched an NBC documentary called "Life in the Thirties" and learned about the Wagner Act, and the labor struggles of that era. It was a kind of civil war: Resistance by management against the rising tide of organizing, defiance of court injunctions by labor, violence against strikebreakers by pickets, and against strikers by company guards and police (including ten strikers and sympathizers killed outside the gates of Republic Steel on the Southeast Side, seven of whom were shot in the back). <br /><br />I became fascinated with American labor history. Fortunately, I grew up in a suburb with one of the best libraries in the state. I quickly learned that the U.S. has had the most violent labor history of any industrialized nation in the world. All of the gains American workers have realized over the last 150 years have been bought and paid for at an extremely high price: the blood spilled by countless thousands, and hundreds of deaths. <br /><br />The railroad strikes of 1877 and 1894 resulted in scores killed, state and Federal troops deployed, and millions of dollars worth of railroad property destroyed. The Knights of Labor not only lost most of its membership after persons unknown killed Chicago cops with a bomb thrown during a rally at Haymarket Square in 1886, but were also labeled as anarchists. Most of the first half of the 20th century saw pitched battles during strikes in major industries--steel, coal, textiles, transportation, garment and automobile manufacturing, and food processing. <br /><br />Only with the assistance of the FDR administration, and the outbreak of World War II, did unions realize most of their objectives. Now, 75 years after FDR, we are enduring his polar opposite, the man who could be one of the most historic presidents in our history for all the wrong reasons. Maybe the last elected president, or the last president, period. In normal times, such statements would probably get me laughed out of town But, as the last three years have sadly proven, we are no longer living in normal times.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-6999455797326028932018-06-28T16:10:01.355-05:002018-06-28T16:10:01.355-05:00I'm glad the Dem leaders are saying there will...I'm glad the Dem leaders are saying there will be no judicial hearings until the FBI investigation is settled. Privatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10757585399827295128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-55456873905212738882018-06-28T16:09:19.883-05:002018-06-28T16:09:19.883-05:00Well said, John.Well said, John.Privatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10757585399827295128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-91862142010772040442018-06-28T11:59:57.249-05:002018-06-28T11:59:57.249-05:00The great grandson of a Columbian Expo contractor ...The great grandson of a Columbian Expo contractor would supported the 8 hour workday is silently applauding your post as he types this. Unfortunately many union men are bigots and haters and surely voted for the deplorable troll who has come out from under his bridge and is poised to undo the good works of the Boomer generation. Many 60s activists have sold out for the money, they got theirs and so what if the schools are underfunded, their children are graduated. The country that proudly quoted Nathan Hale and Patrick Henry now stands mute while cowards like Trump and Mitch McConnell insult us with brazen lies. I am not sure how much more of this Make America Great Again we can take. JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08613528527379198505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-40104862815056059872018-06-28T10:21:42.414-05:002018-06-28T10:21:42.414-05:00Thank you, Neil. Thank you, Neil. Joyce Meggetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960858859262567707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-77846236130252406622018-06-28T09:58:51.431-05:002018-06-28T09:58:51.431-05:00The wealthy don't know it yet, but when blood ...The wealthy don't know it yet, but when blood starts flowing through the streets, it's going to come right to their doorsteps. Tony Galatihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11944671504245191140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-84797746883631261622018-06-28T09:16:27.013-05:002018-06-28T09:16:27.013-05:00And of course, McConnell is rushing to get a repla...And of course, McConnell is rushing to get a replacement for Kennedy installed ahead of the November elections, because a midterm election isn't the same as a presidential election. Or something.<br /><br />There is simply no shame or limit to the hypocrity of these people.Bitter Scribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04645909858616987997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-77739719698786020572018-06-28T08:53:19.826-05:002018-06-28T08:53:19.826-05:00Nothing new. At least until the 1935 Wagner Act ga...Nothing new. At least until the 1935 Wagner Act gave some legislative protection to union activities, the courts sided with managers. A primary tool used for strike breaking was the labor injunction, usually grounded in the argument that a strike was an action in restraint of trade.<br /><br /><br />The relatively new prominence of public employee unions has introduced a somewhat different dynamic.<br /><br /><br />Tom<br /><br />TomTomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09641357239788323783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-5770311678411630392018-06-28T08:12:58.037-05:002018-06-28T08:12:58.037-05:00Well said Neil. November becomes more important ev...Well said Neil. November becomes more important every day.Dziedzichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03403323455431769380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-39125769927054045292018-06-28T07:15:09.460-05:002018-06-28T07:15:09.460-05:00If you haven't registered to vote for the mid-...If you haven't registered to vote for the mid-terms then do so now. Until we go into the full banana republic mode, we fight our battles using ballots instead of bullets and join the protests that will be held this Saturday throughout the nation.Zonkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17924587109596922187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-59137369155587510142018-06-28T06:33:44.167-05:002018-06-28T06:33:44.167-05:00Well put, Neil, as usual. This Trump nightmare kee...Well put, Neil, as usual. This Trump nightmare keeps getting worse with each passing day. Ugh. Ed Basshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04618791137642815414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-35038790132389163142018-06-28T06:32:58.656-05:002018-06-28T06:32:58.656-05:00Well said, thanks.Well said, thanks.kganderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11005895232135682751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-25565327587897154682018-06-28T03:24:14.295-05:002018-06-28T03:24:14.295-05:00Thank you.
If you still have a copy of my book (p...Thank you. <br />If you still have a copy of my book (probably long ago discarded) there is a chapter - Hope and Grandad - that is a recounting of my afternoon with a retired steel worker. He says what You say here, in his own way, and that conversation framed my Union support to this day. <br />U.S.W.A. Local 65 (U.S. Steel South Works).Paul Fedrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04384556977324071639noreply@blogger.com