International Day of Democracy: Solidarity, workers’ rights and the power of collective action

This month in labour history

13-09-1868 Closure of the 3rd IWA Congress in Brussels. Delegates say it "is not the daughter of a cult or a theory. It is the spontaneous product of the proletarian movement ”(text written by Karl Marx). [more]

14-09-1867 Volume 1 of Kapital is published. The product of a decade of research and redrafting, the book applies class analysis to capitalism focusing upon production processes, making the capitalist mode of production historically specific. [more]

17-09-1871 International Workingmen’s Association begins conference in London, though attendance disrupted by Franco-Prussian war. [more]

20-09-1910 International conference on unemployment at the Sorbonne in Paris. Specialists propose the creation of unemployment insurance in each industrial country. [more]

28-09-1864 First meeting between British unions and 5 French union representatives in London to discuss the creation of the International Workingmen’s Association. [more]

29-09-1863 At a meeting in Saint-Martin's Hall, the IWA adopted the French project which provided for the creation of European sections, under the direction of a Central Committee in London. [more]