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On This Day in Working Class History

Working Class History

Daily briefings of On This Day people"s history anniversaries every day of the year. From the Working Class History team.Help support our work by joining us on patreon and accessing exclusive content and benefits: patreon.com/workingclasshistory

history social sciences

All Episodes

0:57

12 April 1920: Ireland general strike

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/04/12

On this day, 12 April 1920, workers in Ireland launched a general strike in support of pro-independence prisoners who were on hunger strike in Mountjoy prison, Dublin. The postal service, public transport, shops, pubs and public toilets were all shut. After two days, the British government caved and released all the prisoners. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8363/ireland-general-strikeOur work is only possible because of support from you, our

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1:24

11 April 1960: April revolution

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/04/11

On this day, 11 April 1960, the body of a young activist, Kim Ju-yul, was found on the beach in Masan, South Korea. The young high school student had disappeared during a protest the previous month against electoral corruption under the US-backed Rhee dictatorship. Authorities declared that his autopsy showed he had died by drowning, but protesters forced their way into the hospital where his body was being held and discovered that Kim's skull had been split by a teargas grenade which had penetrated

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1:03

10 April 1911: Lima general strike

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/04/10

On this day, 10 April 1911, a general strike erupted in Lima, Peru bringing business and transport to a standstill. The stoppage broke out in support of a walkout of 500 workers at a US-owned cotton mill the previous month who were demanding better pay, the abolition of the night shift and a reduction of the working day from 13 to 10 hours. Faced with a general strike, the president intervened and forced the mill to agree to the workers' demands. More information, sources and map:

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2:02

9 April 1946: Palestine general strike

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/04/09

On this day, 9 April 1946, Palestinian Arab and Jewish workers at the Tel Aviv post office walked out on strike. The next day, they were joined by postal workers across all of Palestine in what would soon develop into a general strike of blue and white-collar public sector workers.In response to the postal workers' strike, employers quickly made far-reaching concessions, which the Histadrut (the Jewish union federation) recommended employees accept. However, rank-and-file postal workers voted to

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1:38

8 April 2019: Gabon student protests

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/04/08

On 8 April 2019 protests began in Gabon against government proposals to reduce access to student grants. Many university students were entitled to grants of around 83,000 CFA francs per month, and 65% of its recipients were aged 20 or over. The government planned to set 19 as the maximum age, as well as require high marks in examinations to be eligible.High school and university students in the capital Libreville and elsewhere walked out of class and took to the streets, and there were some scuffles

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1:29

7 April 2010: Carlsberg beer strike

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/04/07

On this day, 7 April 2010, 800 Carlsberg factory workers in Copenhagen, Denmark, walked out on strike in protest at new management policies to restrict beer drinking at work. The company's truck drivers joined the strike in sympathy. The previous week, Carlsberg removed beer coolers from the factory floor, which contained free beer for workers to drink throughout the day. Instead they declared that workers would only be allowed to drink beer in the canteen at lunch hour. The strike lasted for five

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1:25

6 April 1712: New York enslaved uprising

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/04/06

On this day, 6 April 1712, a major rebellion of enslaved people in North America took place in New York City.The enslaved people set fire to a building on Maiden Lane, near Broadway and, as the colonists tried to put out the blaze, the rebels attacked them with guns, hatchets and swords, killing nine and injuring six. They then made their escape to the north, which was as yet undeveloped. Militia and armed colonists then went on the hunt for the rebels. Six rebels died by suicide to avoid capture,

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2:21

5 April 1977: 504 sit-ins

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/04/05

On this day, 5 April 1977, US disability rights activists and organisers stormed and occupied the offices of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, and Seattle, demanding the enactment of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This was a crucial piece of disability civil rights legislation that had been passed 4 years earlier, which mandated that no federally funded programs could exclude

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1:40

4 April 1886: Pastor condemns strikes in New Haven

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/04/04

On 4 April 1886 Rev Newman Smith, pastor of the Centre Congregational Church in New Haven, Connecticut, delivered a lecture at the Labor Lyceum in the city where he condemned strikes.According to the New York Times, New Haven at the time had "picked up the reputation lately of having more strikes than any other city of its size in the country". Business owners, and the media, were uniting to fight against the Knights of Labor and other organisations of workers trying to achieve better pay and safer

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1:20

3 April 1967: Barbican workers strike

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/04/03

On this day, 3 April 1967 construction firm Myton, assisted by the police and the construction workers' union National Federation of Building Trades Operatives, attempted to bring in a scab workforce to replace unofficial strikers who were demanding reinstatement of victimised worker activists on the Barbican site in London. The strikers had been out for 6 months, and were threatened with expulsion from their union (which would also cost them jobs in closed shop sites). A union official who tried to

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1:19

2 April 1863: Richmond food riot

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/04/02

On this day, 2 April 1863, a group of women, having been refused an audience with the governor John Letcher, took to the streets of Richmond, Virginia to protest food shortages, hoarding, and the spiralling inflation in the Confederate capital. The march soon turned into a riot with government warehouses, grocery stores, and commercial establishments attacked and raided. Chants of “bread or blood” and “we celebrate our right to live — we are starving!” were reported by various eyewitnesses. Troops,

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1:13

1 April 1949: NYC Brewery strike

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/04/01

On this day, 1 April 1949, 6,000 workers in 11 breweries in New York City walked out on strike for a pay increase, better staffing and a 35 hour working week instead of 40. The strike lasted 2 1/2 months, and massively slashed beer production in New York, previously the capital of the production in the country, causing Wisconsin to overtake it. The drought of local brew meant that beers from the Midwestern United States managed to penetrate the market for the first time, with Blatz becoming briefly

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1:05

Grenoble: The Caterpillar Bossnapping

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/03/31

On this day, 31 March 2009, around 40 workers in the Caterpillar factory in Grenoble, France stormed their bosses' offices and kept four of them hostage, demanding better severance packages for workers being laid off. Over 700 French Caterpillar workers were being made redundant. The action was successful, and the company increased its pot of redundancy money by €1.5 million: leading to an average payout of €80,000 per worker. More information, sources and map:

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1:37

Palestine Land Day: The Uprising Against Land...

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/03/30

On this day, 30 March 1976, a general strike and mass protests were launched in Palestine and by Palestinian citizens of Israel in protest at the Israeli government seizing large amounts of land owned by Palestinians in Galilee in order to construct Jewish settlements and military facilities. A solidarity strike took place in most Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. There were widespread clashes with security forces, and six unarmed demonstrators were shot by police and the military, with around

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1:08

Eswatini: Mill Workers Fight Back

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/03/29

On 29 March 1963, 150 sawmill workers at Peak Timber in what is now Eswatini went on strike demanding more pay.A further strike erupted at the mill on May 28, when 300 workers at the mill went on strike for a few hours in protest against the retrenchment of five workers after a small part of the plant was closed.There was further unrest on June 17, when workers gathered in support of a strike of workers at the nearby Havelock mine, after which 63 workers were arrested.Our work is only possible

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1:14

The Arkansas Anti Anarchist Act: Fear, Radicalism,...

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/03/28

On this day, 28 March 1919, the state of Arkansas joined the majority of other US states in introducing a law prohibiting anarchism and communism. The law, to "define and punish anarchy and… Bolshevism" barred any "attempt to overthrow [the] present form of government of the State of Arkansas or the United States" and "exhibit[ing] any flag, etc, which is calculated to overthrow present form of government." Violations of the law could incur fines of up to $1,000 and imprisonment of up to six

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1:26

Christmas Island Strike: Workers vs Colonial Management

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/03/27

On 27 March 1974 a strike began on Christmas Island, an Australian colony essentially run by the British Phosphate Commissioners (BPC), a phosphate mining company. The firm employed mostly Asian workers from Singapore, Malaysia and China, who were low-paid and housed in inadequate accommodation, and European workers who were paid five times as much as Asians and had better quality housing and schools.The catalyst for the strike was the sacking of an interpreter, Teo Boon How, on March 26, who was

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1:26

Sioux City Free Speech Fight: Workers vs Censorship

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/03/26

On this day, 26 March 1915, police in Sioux City, Iowa, arrested 14 members of the revolutionary Industrial Workers of the World union for holding street meetings in an attempt to drive the union out of town. The IWW had begun a free speech fight to defend its right to organise. Members responded to a call and flocked to the town, holding street meetings to get arrested and flood the jails. When these 14 defendants were arrested, they refused to cooperate in court and jail, and when set to work on a

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1:14

Mongomo Strike: Labor Unrest in Equatorial Guinea

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/03/25

On this day, 25 March 2008 two Chinese construction workers were killed and at least four injured during a strike in Mongomo, Equatorial Guinea.Workers employed by Jianyu Overseas Development, a subsidiary of the Wheihai group, working on infrastructure projects, went on strike a few days prior. Guinean troops arrived, stormed workers' dormitories, made several arrests and attempted to force strikers back to work.When the workers refused, soldiers opened fire, killing and injuring several, and then

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1:19

Renault Romania Strike: Auto Workers Demand Higher Wages

On This Day in Working Class History ·

2026/03/24

On 24 March 2008 around 8000 workers at the Dacia-Renault factory in Romania launched an indefinite strike demanding pay increases of 50-70%. It was the biggest private sector strike in the country since the overthrow of the state socialist government in 1989. And for the first time in the country, workers based their pay demands not on Romanian salaries but on salaries of Renault workers in Turkey or France, who earned €900-2000 per month, compared with only €300 in Romania.The strike ended on

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