Today in Labor History Sept 13, 11 AFSCME-represented prison employees, 33 inmates die in 4 days

[Omaha Steve]

September 13

The Post Office Department orders 25,000 railway mail clerks to shoot to kill any bandits attempting to rob the mail - 1926

September 13, 1934 - A strike in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, part of a national movement to obtain a minimum wage for textile workers, resulted in the deaths of three workers. Over 420,000 workers ultimately joined the strike throughout the month of September 1934.

Eleven AFSCME-represented prison employees, 33 inmates die in four days of rioting at New York State’s Attica Prison and the retaking of the prison. The riot caused the nation to take a closer look at prison conditions, for inmates and their guards alike - 1971

Labor history found here: http://www.unionist.com/today-in-labor-history & here: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_09_13_2009

[hedgehog]

1. I went to high school with people whose relatives worked at Attica.

My next door neighbor was a newsman covering the story. Most of the prisoners and the guards injured or killed were shot by New York State Troopers when Nelson Rockefeller ordered them in because he wanted to protect his political reputation. Besides, it was a family tradition.


Militia slaughters strikers at Ludlow, Colorado
When the evictions failed to end the strike, the Rockefeller interests hired private detectives that attacked the tent colonies with rifles and Gatling guns. The miners fought back, and several were killed. When the tenacity of the strikers became apparent, the Rockefellers approached the governor of Colorado, who authorized the use of the National Guard. The Rockefellers agreed to pay their wages.

At first, the strikers believed that the government had sent the National Guard to protect them. They soon discovered, though, that the militia was under orders to break the strike. On this day in 1914, two companies of guardsmen attacked the largest tent colony of strikers near the town of Ludlow, home to about 1,000 men, women, and children. The attack began in the morning with a barrage of bullets fired into the tents. The miners shot back with pistols and rifles.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=4495