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Today in Labour History

1525 Germany Insurgent peasants were defeated at the Battle of Frankenhausen, ending the Peasant War, when workers and peasants demanded a “kingdom of heaven on earth”.

1872 Canada Some 1500 workers in Hamilton, Ontario take to the streets under the banners of the Nine Hours movement, to demonstrate for a reduction in working hours.[more]

1895 France In Champagnac-les-Mines, created in 1894, the miners' union launched a 3 months-long strike for the 8-hour day and a better sharing of profits.[more]

1905 Australia The Merchant Service Guild of Australasia became the first trade union to be registered under the Australian Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904

1918 France The workers of the Seine war factories strike until the 18th. Their demand: the end of the war.[more]

1919 Canada A general strike called by the Winnipeg Trades and Labour Council brings out 30,000 workers in support of the unions in the building and metal trades. The city comes to a standstill for six weeks in one of the major labour struggles in Canadian history. [more]

1935 United States of America Folk singer, labor organiser and IWW member Utah Phillips is born.

1946 United States of America 489 city workers in Rochester, NY were sacked for organising a union. They protested the next day, and sympathy strikes began, growing to a general strike, when bosses caved and reinstated the sacked workers.

1946 Canada A six-week strike by loggers in British Columbia begins, the first after the achievement of collective bargaining rights during the war. The strike helps set postwar standards by achieving higher wages, shorter hours, and an industry-wide contract. [more]

1950 Kenya A general strike broke out in Nairobi. 100K walked out demanding the freedom of two jailed union leaders, and better pay and benefits. British authorities repressed the strike and it ended after 10 days.

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