Today in Labor History June 13, 1913: in New Orleans cops shot Black & White IWW members who were trying to stop scabs from unloading a ship. Their strike against United Fruit Company began on June 2. The shooting killed one worker and injured two others. That same year, there were successful IWW-led maritime strikes up and down the eastern seaboard, many organized and led by Ben Fletcher, of the Philadelphia branch. However, the IWW lost their New Orleans strike.

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #strike #IWW #union #BenFletcher #racism #longshoremen #NewOrleans #scabs #PoliceBrutality #PoliceMurder #police #acab

Today in Labor History April 14, 1917: IWW sailors went on strike in Philadelphia and won a ten dollar per month raise. Ben Fletcher, an African-American IWW organizer, was instrumental in organizing the Philadelphia waterfront. By 1916, the IWW, under Fletcher’s leadership, controlled all but two of Philly’s docks. At that time, 10% of the IWW was made up of African-American workers. Most other unions refused to organize black workers. In 1917, Fletcher was nearly lynched, as he was organizing workers in Virginia. In 1918, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for organizing workers during war time. He served three years.

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #IWW #union #strike #BenFletcher #racism #AfricanAmerican #philadelphia #longshore #lynching

Today in Labor History March 15, 1877: Ben Fletcher, African-American IWW organizer was born on this date. Fletcher organized longshoremen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He joined the Wobblies (IWW) in 1912, became secretary of the IWW District Council in 1913. He also co-founded the interracial Local 8 in 1913. By 1916, thanks in large part to Fletcher’s organizing skill, all but two of Philadelphia’s docks were controlled by the IWW. And the union maintained control of the Philly waterfront for about a decade. After the 1913 strike, Fletcher traveled up and down the east coast organizing dockers. However, he was nearly lynched in Norfolk, Virginia in 1917. At that time, roughly 10% of the IWW’s 1 million members were African American. Most had been rejected from other unions because of their skin color. In 1918, the state arrested him, sentencing him to ten years for the crime of organizing workers during wartime. He served three years.

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #IWW #BenFletcher #racism #AfricanAmerican #lynching #prison #longshore #philadelphia

Another book I want to read/buy. Maybe I have to order the ebook, to avoid getting broke. The author, Peter Cole, was at the #Pinksterlanddagen. Only I missed his book presentation, what I regret.

*Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly*

https://www.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1209

"In the early twentieth century, when many US unions disgracefully excluded black and Asian workers, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) warmly welcomed people of color, in keeping with their emphasis on class solidarity and their bold motto: “An Injury to One Is an Injury to All!” Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly tells the story of one of the greatest heroes of the American working class.

A brilliant union organizer and a humorous orator, Benjamin Fletcher (1890–1949) was a tremendously important and well-loved African American member of the IWW during its heyday. Fletcher helped found and lead Local 8 of the IWW’s Marine Transport Workers Industrial Union, unquestionably the most powerful interracial union of its era, taking a principled stand against all forms of xenophobia and exclusion. …"

#BenFletcher #IWW #anarchism #AfricanAmerican #blackAnarchism