Via my friend Delanos colleague, Aaron George. One hundred and twenty eight years ago, a group of men who had the audacity to stand up for the right to have eight hours to do with what they will, were shot at by police officers in Chicago. Seven died. Eight years after that, a group of railroad workers had their wages cut by the same man who owned their homes but expected the exact same rent. They decided to stop work to ask for the dignity of a living wage. The president of the United States sent troops and shot at them. Thirty men died. Two years after that, a group of farmers, deeply in debt to the 1% who owned the banks, tried to send a man to the white house who would listen to them. They were silenced by both parties and drove out of office using fraud and violence. Ninety nine years ago, a singer and union organiser named Joe Hill was framed for two murders in Utah. The government executed him in a rigged trial. Four years later, Wesley Everest, another union members and a veteran of World War I, was lynched and possibly castrated in Centralia Washington after shooting a man in self defence. Meanwhile, five members of the IWW were shot and killed in Everett Washington by the sheriff and a willing group of businessmen. Seventy seven years ago, Walter Ruether, the leader of the United Autoworkers, was beaten in front of cameras by Henry Fords private police force in Detroit. They did this because the UAW was planning to run a leaflet campaign protesting Fords low wages. Thirty three years ago, a union of air traffic controllers went on strike. They were being paid extremely poor wages and forced to work long shifts. Rather than listening to their plight, the President fired 90% of them and replaced them with scabs. 11,345 people lost their jobs. Nine years ago, in Junquiere Canada, two hundred workers at Walmart dared to use a union to arbitrate a labour dispute. Walmart immediately closed their store, putting those two hundred people out of work. Six years ago, Wall Street bankers greedily crashed the economy. We paid them off and ignored what they had done, because without the bankers, cars wont be built, mines wont be dug, roads wont be paved, and clothes wont be sewed. Apparently. Three years later, in Wisconsin, we took away the ability for teachers to bargain, because theyre apparently greedy parasites who contribute little to society. So, everyone, on the one hundredth anniversary of his trial, please remember Joe Hill tonight. He never died, because no matter how hard you try, you cant kill an idea.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 18:45:20 +0000
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