You ought to be out raising hell. This is the fighting age. Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
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Saturday September 19, 1903
Cripple Creek, Colorado - Imported Strike Breakers Find Their Way to the W. F. of M.
Eighty-seven imported strikebreakers reached Denver yesterday on their way to the Cripple Creek strike zone. But, it seems, the mine owners are having a hard time of it hanging onto their new employees. Realizing that they were brought into Colorado to be turned into scabs, twenty-six deserted in Denver, and nine more in Colorado Springs. Only about fifty actually got off the train at Cripple Creek where the soldiers turned them over to the guards (gunthugs) of the mine owners.
As the new arrivals were marched down the street, the little union newsboys followed them and began to shout, "scabs, scabs!" The shouts of these children so alarmed the mine owners that they recalled the soldiers to provide an escort for their strikebreakers. The soldiers lined the the streets and alleyways, and forced citizens to step aside and to "move on."
Most of the imported strikebreakers are Finns and Norwegians who speak no English. Among them, however, are two Americans who told a story of lies and deception. Conditions here are not as they were presented. Some of them were recruited from the harvest fields of Michigan and were told that they would be going to work in a newly opened gold field. Nothing was said about a strike in the area.
The new work force was further diminished last evening when eighteen of the men turned up at the Cripple Creek headquarters of the Western Federation of Miners. Early this morning, the remaining workforce was taken to the Independence Mine, but refused to go to work. They were then taken to the military camp at Goldfield and are being held there at this time.
One of the Finns, Emil Peterson, attempted to desert this morning, and was shot at by Lieutenant Hartung of Company B. Peterson was able to escape. Peterson came here from Duluth, Minnesota, having been assured by the employment agency that there was no strike in the area.
SOURCE
The Cripple Creek Strike
-by Emma F Langdon
(Part I, 1st pub 1904)
NY, 1969
Note: This photo is of newsboys of 1908 in New York City, used here to represent the newsboys of 1903 Cripple Creek.
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Friday September 19, 1913
Hankock, Michigan - Strikebreakers due to arrive by train today.
Reports have been received from Michigan Copper Country that strikebreakers are due to arrive by train in Hancock today. They have been recruited for the Quincy Mining Company by the Austro-American Labor Agency in New York City. Thirty-seven were due to arrive, but six of those have already deserted. The Western Federation of Miners has been sending out advertisements about the strike in the area, and labor unions are being contacted to help get the word out, especially in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Duluth, Fargo, Milwaukee, and Chicago.
A poster has been printed for distribution:
Don't be a scab. Wages are low, the labor required excessive, hours long.
No real man will come to the copper district until a settlement is made.
SOURCE
Rebels on the Range
-by Arthur W Thurner
MI, 1984
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Thursday September 19, 2013
Now is the time to begin planning for Black Friday Protests at Walmart!!
With that thought in mind, I would like us to take a second look at the performance of the Step Team from UFCW Local 1208. They have set a high bar for protests. Let us be inspired:
1208 Steppers-Steppin' for Justice
LINK
I've been thinking for sometime now that our protests need to move beyond merely chanting slogans and listening to speeches. Even standing around and listening to musical performances can get a bit boring. But if we, ourselves, should start singing together, dancing together, performing skits and poetry together, we could take protest to a whole other level!
From now until Black Friday, Thursdays are going to Protest Planning Days at Hellraisers. A good time to throw out ideas, ask for help or suggestions, and let us know what you are planning.
This week I will be contacting the folks who protested here in the San Antonio area last year. We were a small group, but at least we there. Something is better than nothing.
Here is an article from the Raleigh Public Record by James Borden on the 1208 Steppers. It includes an interview with Sarah Baker, an intern with OUR Wal-Mart who was there at the protest on Sept. 5th.
Take the Pledge!
This is the first step!
This Black Friday, I will stand with Walmart workers and support their calls for change at Walmart.
OUR Walmart
http://forrespect.org/
UFCW
http://www.ufcw.org/
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Casey Jones, The Union Scab-Svensk
Get busy shoveling sulfur,
That's what you get for scabin'
On the S.P. Line.
-Joe Hill
(P.S.-Since some of them were recruited from Minnesota,
there were possibly also some Swedes among the imported strikebreakers.)