Working Class History
Working Class History#OtD 10 Jan 1859 Catalan educator and anarchist, Francesc Ferrer was born. He developed the idea of the "Modern School": radical, secular education particularly for working-class children. He was later framed and executed by the state. Learn more: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/all/products/anarchist-education-and-the-modern-school-a-francisco-ferrer-reader
Working Class History#OtD 10 Jan 1934 disabled anti-fascist construction worker, Marinus van der Lubbe, was executed by the Nazis for setting fire to the Reichstag. He'd hoped to inspire resistance to fascism; instead, the Nazis used it as a pretext to repress dissent https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8195/marinus-van-der-lubbe-executed
Working Class History#OtD 8 Jan 1911 Italian anarchist, Pietro Gori, died. He wrote some of the most famous 19th century anarchist songs and lived in Argentina, where he helped build the revolutionary labour movement https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10794/pietro-gori-dies
Working Class History#OtD 8 Jan 2003 two train drivers from Motherwell, Scotland, refused to drive a train full of ammunition for UK forces in the Gulf to the Glen Douglas NATO military base. It was a protest against the threat of invading Iraq. More on the anti-war movt: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10799/anti-war-train-drivers
Working Class History#OtD 6 Jan 1971 the Militant Mothers of Raymur, 25 mothers from the Raymur Place housing project in Vancouver, Canada, blockaded railway tracks to get a pedestrian overpass to protect the 400 children who crossed the tracks to and from school https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10618/militant-mothers-blockade
Working Class History#OtD 6 Jan 2014 workers at a Goodyear plant in Amiens, France, took two bosses hostage demanding better severance pay. They occupied the plant and kept bosses inside until the company agreed to triple redundancy pay. More info, plus commemorative shirt: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/clothing/products/t-shirt-of-the-month-bossnapping
Working Class History#OtD 6 Jan 1946 after World War II, 20,000 enlisted US service members marched in Manila demanding faster demobilisation (return home) in the Manila Mutiny. Protests continued until March. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10617/manila-mutiny
Working Class History#OtD 5 Jan 1948 the Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem was blown up by the Haganah Zionist militia to push Palestinian Arabs to leave the neighbourhood. Around 26 were killed and 60 injured, mostly Arab Palestinians, like Lutfi and Eleanora Aboussouans https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/11417/semiramis-hotel-bombing
Working Class History#OtD 3 Jan 1894 Italian government declared a state of siege and sent 40,000 troops to Sicily to crush a powerful movement of agricultural workers & peasants who were fighting for better wages & land redistribution, killing dozens and jailing 1000 https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10182/state-of-siege-in-italy
Working Class History#OtD 2 Jan 1905 @iww@mastodon.social union was conceived in the US at the Conference of Industrial Unionists in Chicago. Formally constituted at a subsequent conference in June, the IWW was a new kind of revolutionary, multi-racial union to unite all workers. Learn more: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/05/23/wch-e6-the-industrial-workers-of-the-world-in-the-us-1905-1918/