Today in labor history Dec 22, 250 "anarchists," "communists," and "labor agitators" were deported

[Omaha Steve]

December 22

A group of building trades unions from the Midwest meet in St. Louis to form the National Building Trades Council. The Council disbanded after several years of political and jurisdictional differences - 1897

December 22, 1919 - Amid a strike for union recognition by 395,000 steelworkers, approximately 250 "anarchists," "communists," and "labor agitators" were deported from the United States to Russia, marking the beginning of the so-called "Red Scare." Workers who sought to form unions often were labeled by employers and the government in an attempt to intimidate them and undermine worker rights.

[TheCML]

1. How soon we forget.

How many union workers of today would know about this? How many of the 40 percent that voted for McCain would even care? I would love to see another workers movement in this country.

[kernelfarmer]

2. AMEN brother

We need to do a better job educating our younger members. The schools don't teach anything about the labor movement in this country. The things we take for granted (40 hr work week, et al) were paid for with our brothers and sisters blood, sweat and tears.