Today in labour history

Today in Labour History

1816 Barbados A slave uprising known as Bussa’s rebellion, named after its leader, broke out on Easter Sunday night in Barbados. Slaves took advantage of the temporary freedom from work and the cover of permitted gathering for festivities.

1912 New Zealand The start of the Waihi Miners Strike, New Zealand. One of the country's most bitter disputes was to last six months.[more]

1919 Ireland In Limerick, Ireland, a general strike was declared in protest against the declaration by the British military of a ‘Special Militarised Zone’ in the area. The general strike saw the creation of the short-lived Limerick Soviet.

1920 India At Madurai, Tamil Nadu, 750 women workers went on a strike against patriarchal practices at the workplace. This strike, from 14 April to 10 June 1920, was the first recorded strike in the cotton mills of South India. [more]

1939 United States of America 'The Grapes of Wrath', John Steinbeck's classic novel about itinerant labor, strikes and the Great Depression, is published.

1979 South Africa Inaugural meeting of FOSATU in Hammanskraal, the first non-racial, democratic national trade union federation with a strong field organization encouraging workers' control.

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