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This Week in People’s History, Feb 13–19

Portside
Parliament asserts its power over the British monarchy in 1689 The Original Bill of Rights (in 1689), OSHA Comes of Age (1974), Shake, Rattle, and Roll (1954), A Win for Black Studies in Dixie (1969), FBI Frame-Up Falls Apart (1999), Compensation for Black Lung (1969), A Rare Espionage Act Acquittal (1919)

labor

At a Massive Union Rally, the Promise of a Better South

Hamilton Nolan In These Times
Strikers sitting next to a blow up of Mother Jones Many unions sent buses full of supporters from all across the South. There were CWA and UAW members. There were teamsters, teachers, government workers and longshoremen all in union t-shirts. This is what solidarity looks like.

labor

Striking Coal Miners Return to New York to Picket Investor

Steven Wishnia LaborPress.org
“They don’t want to pay the profit back that we earned that company,” UMWA District 20 vice president Larry Spencer told the rally. "Give us a fair contract and we’ll go back to work in these coal mines" The strike is the longest in Alabama history.

books

The Southern Key: Class, Race, & Radicalism in the 1930s & 1940s

Janet Wells Greene New York Labor History Association
The Southern Key argues that much of what is important in politics and society today was largely shaped by the successes and failures of the labor movements of the 30s and 40s, notably the failures of southern labor organizing during this period.

$5 Million to Laid Off Coal Miners

Jessica Corbett Common Dreams
Talk About Direct Action Getting Results': Bankrupt Blackjewel Agrees to Pay Over $5 Million to Laid Off Coal Miners Who Blocked Train Tracks
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