In the blunted night of the coal shed,
without a torch, my fingers dig
among the coal for the coal.
Hear it scutter into the bucket…
—Brian McCabe, “Coal”
published in BODY PARTS, @canongatebooks 1999
The 1984–85 UK miners’ strike was officially called off 40 years ago #OTD, 3 March, 1985. It remains the longest-running strike in British history without a positive outcome.
In the early-20th century, strikes and union battles were common in industrial centers throughout the US. But nothing compared to the class warfare of the West Virginia Mine Wars.
To celebrate the release of "Black Coal and Red Bandanas," an illustrated history from PM Press, we're exciting to host a virtual evening with author Raymond Tyler and illustrator Summer McClinton. They'll be joined by Shaun Slifer and Kenzie New-Walker of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum!
Register for this free online event and find a copy of "Black Coal and Red Bandanas" at https://firestorm.coop/events/3342-the-west-virginia-mine-wars.html. Can't make the event but still want to listen in? Sign up and we'll send you the recording to stream at your convenience!
#WorkingClassHistory #ClassWar #CoalMiner #WestVirginia #MineWars #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (- L)
The Orgreave Stations
6 Feb, Glasgow – free (booking required)
To mark the 40th anniversary of the 1984/5 Miner’s Strike, poet William Hershaw & artist Les McConnell have used the Christian framework of “the Stations of the Cross” as an imaginative foundation to describe events leading up to the Battle of Orgreave.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-orgreave-stations-tickets-1203046437279
@workingclasshistory has an excellent two-part podcast interview with John Barker.
@pasttense @workingclasshistory
Decio at the bottom of the Sea
(Translation by PS)
https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/pnw036
Original (Italian)
https://premioconti.org/?product=decio-in-fondo-al-mare-alfio-bernabei
#ArandoraStar #workingclasshistory
#Decio Anzani #Alfio Bernabei #AntiFascism
@pasttense
@workingclasshistory
Arandora Star Tragedy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Arandora_Star
The Italian Connection - Albert Meltzer
https://libcom.org/article/italian-connection-albert-meltzer
1980s Dangerous Characters, a documentary Alfio Bernabei for Channel 4.
Part One
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtekDZX4RhA
Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kghAMWw9Qw&t=1394s
#ArandoraStar #workingclasshistory #documentaries #TVseries
#Italy #London #Clerkenwell #antifascism
Given the news from South Korea today, it seems like a good time to highlight the @workingclasshistory project’s podcasts on life under, and resistance to, South Korean dictatorship in the second half of the 20th century - see
Before 1971, workers only received a percentage of pay when they were unable to work due to injury. NSW building industry employees injured at work were forced into debt.
The construction unions were united in 1971 as the Building Trades Group.
The Builders Labourers Federation joined in this struggle with the BWIU and their combined membership went on strike for 3 weeks across the entire construction industry in NSW.
#labormovement #workingclasshistory
#constructionworkers #organize #unions
Democracy Thwarted: Vermont Council Delegates Must Keep Voting Until Results Please AFL Headquarters?
a re-run election that turns the labor council back into a top-down, dysfunctional organization—like it was for decades—will be a setback for labor locally and nationally.
https://www.laprogressive.com/labor-social-justice/democracy-thwarted
Hey Fediverse! @workingclasshistory has a Kickstarter for a book about the Vermont AFL-CIO, to be published by @pmpress, with four days and about $400 to go. I want to see this book published, so if you can pitch something in, please do!! Boost and share too!
#OnThisDay, July 28, in 2002, nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, PA, were rescued after 77 hours underground (depicted in The Pennsylvania Miners' Story, 2002)
#Movies #Film #Miners #ThePennsylvaniaMiners #TodayInHistory #WorkingClassHistory #QuecreekMine #Histodons @histodons