#LaborRights #Striking #WorkingConditions #Solidarity #HistoricalStruggles
In today’s society, it seems like the concept of striking for better working conditions has lost its significance for many people. With the rise of online criticism and the fear of losing out on paychecks, it’s disheartening to see the lack of solidarity among the working class. But why were people 100 years ago willing to die for better working conditions, while many today don’t even understand the purpose of striking?
## Understanding the Historical Significance
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the labor movement in the United States was met with violence and opposition from powerful corporations and government forces. Workers were fighting for basic rights such as paid breaks, lunch hours, and an 8-hour workday. However, these struggles came at a high cost, with many losing their lives in the process.
Here are some examples of the sacrifices made by our ancestors in the name of better working conditions:
– **1874 Pennsylvania Mine Workers**: 20 mine workers were killed during a strike for better wages and working conditions.
– **1877 Maryland Railroad Workers**: 10 railroad workers lost their lives during a strike for fair wages and improved safety measures.
– **1886 Chicago Protest**: 4 workers and 7 policemen died during a protest against police brutality and for workers’ rights.
– **1897 Lattimer Massacre**: 19 miners were killed during a strike for better wages and improved working conditions in Pennsylvania.
– **1900 St. Louis Strike**: 14 strikers were killed, 3 of which were shot by wealthy citizens during a labor dispute.
– **1912 West Virginia Strike**: 50 people lost their lives during the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike for better wages and working conditions.
– **1914 Colorado Coal Miners**: 20 coal miners, including 11 children, were killed during a strike for safer working conditions.
## The Importance of Solidarity
The sacrifices made by these workers paved the way for the labor rights we often take for granted today. Paid breaks, lunch hours, and an 8-hour workday were not handed to us; they were fought for through blood, sweat, and tears. It’s crucial to understand and appreciate the historical struggles that have shaped our current working conditions.
Solidarity among the working class is essential for advocating for better treatment and working conditions. When we stand together and support each other in times of struggle, we have the power to create positive change. It’s important to remember that the fight for labor rights is ongoing and requires collective action.
## The Disconnect in Modern Times
Despite the sacrifices of our ancestors and the benefits we enjoy today because of their struggles, there seems to be a disconnect among modern-day workers. The fear of losing a paycheck or facing online criticism has deterred many from participating in strikes or advocating for better working conditions.
It’s important to recognize that standing up for our rights may require temporary sacrifices, but the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term inconveniences. By educating ourselves on the history of labor rights and understanding the power of solidarity, we can continue the fight for better working conditions for all workers.
## Conclusion
In conclusion, the sacrifices made by our ancestors in the name of better working conditions should not be forgotten or taken for granted. Striking and advocating for labor rights is a powerful tool that has proven to be effective in shaping fair and safe working conditions for workers.
As we navigate the challenges of modern-day work environments, it’s crucial to remember the struggles of those who came before us. By standing in solidarity and advocating for better treatment and working conditions, we honor the sacrifices made by the generations that paved the way for our rights today.
Let’s continue to educate ourselves, support each other, and fight for a better future for all workers. Together, we can create positive change and uphold the legacy of those who fought bravely for the labor rights we enjoy today. #Solidarity #LaborRights #WorkingConditions #Striking #HistoricalStruggles
Complicated.
Part of it is despite the atrocities we are constantly reminded of, the world, in general is just less violent then it used to be. Constant exposure to death and violence drives most to want to avoid it if possible.
Beyond that, the decline of the union. Automation making the value of human labor less clear on its face and thus easier to extract wealth from.
100 years of propaganda
Because modern folks are weak of character in the west.
WW1 and WW2 killed so many manly men that it permanently changed the type of male in the West.
add in photo estrogens, plastics, sedentary lifestyle, etc.
Don’t worry, weak men cause hard times, hard times create hard men, hard men create good times, good times create weak men…thus it ever was, thus it ever will be.
I figure we are about 5-6 years of real problems from tearing ourselves apart…
In the intervening years, most of society has been conditioned to believe that ANY form of resistance, pushback, complaint, or criticism is a direct path to ruin – and ONLY to ruin. And we’ve sculpted aspects of the working class experience to make sure this is true. We’ve deliberately kept the minimum wage at sub-poverty level, we reject UBI, and we keep people poor and homeless because that’s what makes people do all the shit work, and allow themselves to be exploited and abused. We can regain that power, but only if we work as a complete collective and are all willing to risk homelessness, hunger, and death. But when faced with those things, most people lose their resolve, and will actively reject solidarity in favor of a shitty job that lets them eat today.
Union busting had had 100 years to figure things out and they are very good at it now.
And the Pinkertons still exist somehow. Not even outlawed.
People back then knew how to make do when they didn’t have money. They had skills they could rely on or had more robust communities to help support them. People these days can’t imagine life without their comforts and the Internet keeps us so divided and isolated that most people don’t have these communities
When I say people I mean middle class
Watch “Matewan”
i mean… if i die… ME PERSONALLY am not getting any improved working conditions. wtf good does that do me? i’d rather be alive. you don’t have to die for employees to have leverage over the company
100 years of propaganda
Presumably because they started labeling anything pro labor communist and we were told it was better to die than to be a communist.
One part is that 100 years ago the vast majority of people were religious. They went to church with the family every Sunday and believed they were going someplace really nice when they died. So laying down your life for a cause wasn’t quite the same as now, where many many more are not religious and death is just the end of you.
Watch “Matewan”
I grew up in a conservative area. I don’t remember who it was maybe my grandpa or someone told me as a kid “unions choke the golden goose”. To scare me I don’t know why that people in unions are so greedy for more there’s nothing left and everything goes away. I never heard anything pro union to my knowledge but I remember being confused by that and wondering why so many working class men acted like unions were bad. I later saw men who had worked one union job in their life get denied working for any other company that was anti union. The Toyota factories near where I lived later refused to hire someone even in an unrelated job that had ever been part of a union.
Eventually all the experienced lesson learners are dead and there’s noone left to pass it on. This is why these things happen in 80 year cycles. Ideas have about the same life expectancy of people.
The workers of the past suffered extreme mistreatment. They desperately needed their pay too, but things were so bad, they had to strike. Mistreated workers of today I suppose have not hit their breaking point for the most part.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s almost entirely because things used to be much worse than they are today.
Almost 90% of the complaints here are totally valid complaints about compensation not being as good as it was 30-50 years ago despite technological advancements that should make it somewhere between 300-500% what it was. For the amount of product produced per worker, compensation has never been worse.
But all that’s nothing compared to the 1800’s when most everyone knew coworkers who died on site or someone who lost their child in a factory accident.
Lots of factors contributed to huge improvements in quality of life and work in the late 19th century, culminating in WW2, which drastically decreased the workforce, further improving work life and cementing positive changes for the next 30-40 years.
“Hustle” culture. “Rise & Grind”. <——those assholes.
The only real piece of power you have as a worker is to withhold your labor to demand better working conditions. Without that it might as well be slavery.
I imagine people in the 1870s were more desperate and less exposed to propaganda.
Because corporations can now survive strikes. They are multinational. There’s only like 15 of them.
The capitalist, imperialist machine figured out it was better to heat up the water slowly, to reference the boiling frog metaphor
Today we have both way more in material possessions but way less in means of actual support that matters.
I’m an Elk, and we have a board specifically for the relief and aid of our members, the first line of the Elk’s mission states that the goal is “To inculcate the principles of Charity, Justice, Brotherly Love and Fidelity” and we mean it.
Guess what? Fraternal organizations that used to be a haven for the working class to bond together are **dying out**.
Our society has fractured into individualistic islands, with moats and all. Most people, if I invite them to an open Elk event, give me the hairy eye of distrust and beg off.
We need to fix ourselves, then we can unite enough to make a stand that matters.
People used to believe it would make a difference. Now they don’t.
People 100 years ago were far more impoverished than we are today. There wasn’t as much to distract them or occupy their time. We have SO MUCH entertainment available for cheap and free that keep us docile and separated. Technology is isolating. We are, in a sense, both spoiled and depressed. Our conditions are declining but not as bad as 1900.
What will cause the revolution? It will be something we don’t expect (or food). I always said the moment we can’t go home and watch sports or do the things that distract us because things get so bad will be the day. It won’t be abstract rules being changed despite how much we can see what happens. It will be when the water turns off for everybody.
In all fairness 100 years ago was quite different. My father’s family fought in the coal mining wars. You and your family were literally owned by the company. You were paid with company money, lived in company housing, and spent money in company stores. It was just a matter of time before that exploded into violence. You don’t have those kind of issues anymore. If you don’t like the job you have, you can just quit and get another one. That wasn’t really an option back then as literally every freaking business in your location was owned by the same company. People have options today and bills need to get paid.
Because they were actually dying at work anyway, they had less to lose than today.
Today it is more complaints about comfort and equity
I went on strike twice last year and we got a fairly decent 7.5% pay rise plus a one off £1500 bonus.
A few generations of our government and schools training society to be malleable and complaisant drones will do that 🤷♂️
Most republicans have been convinced to vote against their own self interest for years at this point.
Like work sucks for sure, but living standards have improved so drastically it helps off set the bullshit you have to deal with at work. As living standards decrease we see more people getting mad at the workplace.
Cellphones, tablets, gambling, gaming, TV, and porn. There is not enough attention span to go around. Capitalism has put so many in debt, or willing to put themselves into debt for the newest, shiniest things, at ever younger ages, obligations them to simply put up with what they can get.
Frankly, I’m surprised that it’s been such a fight to legalize Marijuana. While it may dull the brain to innovation and going fast, it can also be a good tool for a repressive capitalist system to placate the masses into not taking any action to advance their own interests.
Mostly it’s the schools. We’re being conditioned to either be docile or to believe that any resistance at all will be met with swift punishment. Nobody wants to fight. It’s called the pussification of America. People have been turned into cowards.
Greatest question ever asked. It floors me that more people can’t see the power in numbers that the labor force has but we will always have the boot lickers that get in the way of getting more pay, more benefits, etc. it really makes my head explode.
we are too comfortable these days….Social media has our full attention. It is hard to protest when you are distracted by entertainment and living a good life. Compared to 100 years ago, we live like Queens and Kings (well some of us). It is easier to turn a blind eye when it does not affect us. Humans are pretty lazy by nature (at least I am!)…just my $.02 on this. Not all I got….but I don’t like typing!
In the ’70s when fuel efficient Japanese cars started to take market share from the Big 3 (was big 4 back then), the big 3 pushed the lie that unions were to blame for their problems, workers were being paid too much because of the unions and it was hurting their business. Too many people bought into that lie, and many have heard that unions are bad from their parents their whole lives. This was more evident in Michigan of course.
Comfort, Capitalism offers comfort like a car, TV, entertainment in general that are affordable and make people think that their lives are better because the comforts are increasing. It makes us not want to look more deeply into the system, most adults are just giant infants going from soothing toy to soothing toy