Labor history Oct 17 "Salt of the Earth" strike begins, 12 NYC firefighters die, Billings released

[Omaha Steve]

October 17

Labor activist Warren Billings is released from California's Folsom Prison. Along with Thomas J. Mooney, Billings had been pardoned for a 1916 conviction stemming from a bomb explosion during a San Francisco Preparedness Day parade. He had always maintained his innocence - 1939

"Salt of the Earth" strike begins by the mostly Mexican-American members of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union Local 890 in Bayard, N.M. Strikers' wives walked picket lines for seven months when their men were enjoined during the 14-month strike against the New Jersey Zinc Co. A great movie, see it! - 1950


Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and Riffraff is an encyclopedic guide to 350 labor films from around the world, ranging from those you’ve heard of -- Salt of the Earth, The Grapes of Wrath, Roger & Me -- to those you’ve never heard of but will fall in love with once you see them. Fiction and nonfiction, the films are about unions, labor history, working-class life, political movements, and the struggle between labor and capital. In the UCS bookstore now.

Twelve New York City firefighters die fighting a blaze in midtown Manhattan - 1966

And this: October 17, 1966 - Twelve New York City firefighters died fighting a blaze in midtown Manhattan. Firefighting remains the most dangerous occupation in the United States. Workers concerned about safety and other issues formed the International Association of Fire Fighters in 1918. Today, the health and safety of fire fighters and emergency medical personnel is a major focus of the union.

International Printing Pressmen's & Assistants' Union of North America merges with International Stereotypers', Electrotypers' & Platemakers' Union to become Printing & Graphic Communications Union - 1973

Industrial Union of Marine & Shipbuilding Workers of America merges with International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers - 1988

Labor history found here: http://www.unionist.com/big-labor/today-in-labor-history & here: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_10_17_2011