75th Anniversary of the “Teamster Rebellion” — When Workers Shut Down Minneapolis

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.socialistalternative.org/news/article20.php?id=1124

Jul 10, 2009
By Dani Indovino and Canyon Lalama, Minneapolis, MN

During the Great Depression, working people all over the country stood up for their living standards, fighting anti-union employers, the courts, and the police to assert their rights – and they won!

Today, as we move into the worst economic crisis since that time, it is crucial we learn how workers successfully defended themselves in the past. Joblessness is increasing at an alarming rate, healthcare costs are rising, yet the strength of the labor movement is at an historic low point.

After years of bitter defeats for the labor movement, in 1934 three major strikes – in Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Toledo – changed everything.

Led by socialists who understood the necessity of militant mass action against the bosses and the anti-union laws, these strikes sparked an uprising of the American working class over the next several years, capturing many of the benefits working people enjoy to this day.

Business Unionism
The conditions of the coal industry in Minneapolis were typical of many industries at the time. In his book, Teamster Rebellion, Farrell Dobbs (a leader of the 1934 Minneapolis strike) describes his own situation: "We were just squeaking by when I was cut to forty-eight hours a week. It was a welcome physical relief since coal heavers had to work like mules, but there was also a two-dollar cut in weekly pay... The thin flesh of mere subsistence was being scraped down to the bare bones of outright poverty... On top of all that, I could expect to be laid off in the spring... And I could be fired at any time without recourse merely at the employer's whim."

These conditions led to massive anger. Workers joined the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in growing numbers, seeking a solution to their difficult circumstances.

FULL story at link.