Hellraisers Journal: 25,000 Silk Workers on Strike

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Wednesday, March 11, 1903

West Virginia-Mother Jones takes on the the Coal Operators as she works as a paid organizer for the United Mine Workers of America. She reports directly to John Mitchell, President of the Union. He has recently written to her: "I am sorry not to have met you on your visit to Indianapolis, as I should have liked to talk over with you the situation in that field. I deeply appreciate what you say, Mother, concerning the future. I have always felt that I could count upon your friendship." The West Virginia field, at that time, was considered to be the most dangerous one for a Union Organizer.

Source:

The Correspondence of MotherJones
Edward M Steel, Editor
U of Pittsburgh Press, 1985

Tuesday, March 11, 1913

Paterson, New Jersey-The silk strike has grown to 25,000 workers as Big Bill Haywood declares the the strike to be "the closest approach to a general strike that has yet taken place in American industry." Demands include: the abolition of the four-loom system, recognition of the IWW, an eight-hour day, and minimum wage of $12 a week. The silk manufacturers have rejected all demands.

Source:

Women and the American Labor Movement
From Colonial Times to the Eve of World War I
by Philip S Foner
NY, 1979

 

Monday, March 11, 2013

Five things you should know about Tom Perez, Obama’s pick for LaborSecretary

...5. Perez is a lifelong public servant, but he also has a personal connection to labor issues: Perez has been in public service for his entire professional life, having previously worked as an aide to Sen. Ted Kennedy, a member of Montgomery County Council in Maryland, and an assistant to former AG Janet Reno, in addition to his work in the Maryland Governor’s office. But as my colleagues point out, he also has a personal connection to labor issues: “Perez was 12 when his father died of a heart attack, and a friend’s father stepped in as a surrogate. The man was a Teamster who’d lost his job, and the union helped support him.”

Source: The Washington Post
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really hopeful about Tom Perez

sartoris's picture

So far, I like what I have learned about Perez.

Haywood and Jones are American heroes. He is buried (partly buried) in a cemetery not too far from where I live. He was cremated and half of his ashes were buried in Moscow and half sent to Chicago. He is in the same cemetery as the Haymarket martyrs. Emma Goldman is there too. I took my daughters there last year and meant to write an article for VOTS about our visit. Once Spring is here I'll go back over there and take some pictures for the site.

I'm a big fan, JayRaye. Hope you continue posting here. Thanks for this great article. 

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so many activists buried there

sartoris's picture

It's an amazing cemetery. It's not in Chicago proper but is within the 'Metropolitan' area. Highly recommend a visit if you ever find yourself in Chicago. Definitely stop at the office and ask directions. It's a huge cemetery.

I have lots of pictures in my camera and I just never got around to loading them on the computer. There are so many activists buried there. It made me ashamed that I had never heard of so many of the people who literally fought their entire for justice.

The only thing that is annoying is that for some reason young people (I'm just assuming it's young people, it could be elderly people) like to draw the anarchy symbol on Emma Goldman's monument. That irritates me greatly. Really? You are at a monument for one of the greatest fighters in the history of all social movements and you feel inclined to draw on her monument with a Sharpie????

Course, people do leave flowers, too. My daughter left a poem she wrote about Emma Goldman and that made me pretty darn proud.

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