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On this day, 25 October 1983, the Hayes Cottage Hospital in England was occupied by its staff and run under workers' control in protest at its proposed closure the following week.  A leaflet about the occupation issued at the time stated: "This action was taken after a lot of thought but it was clearly the only way to stop the closure after other avenues had been exhausted. "The reaction of the people of Hayes has been really magnificent. We have had visitors coming round with food, supplies and money… "G.P's connected with the hospital are to start admitting patients again so we will be running just as before. Certainly, the patients in the Cottage Hospital are solidly behind the work-in. Fifteen of them have signed a petition demanding the retention of the hospital and one patient has insisted that if any attempt is made to move her she intends to die in the ambulance". The workers self-managed the hospital until December, when the health authority caved in and agreed to keep it open. The hospital remained open until the 1990s, when it was turned into a nursing home.  More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9783/hayes-cottage-hospital-occupied Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 24 October 1975, 500 workers at the La Tondeña distillery in the Philippines went on strike and occupied the plant, despite president Ferdinand Marcos have declared martial law. The workers were organised in the Kaisahan ng Malayang Manggagawa ng La Tondeña union, and were demanding numerous improvements including: permanent status for casual workers, better pay and maternity leave. After 44 hours, the strike was repressed by security forces. But the action inspired other resistance to the regime, and the workers' slogan, "Tama Na, Sobra, Welga Na" ("Enough! Too much! Strike now!") caught on and was later adapted to "Tama Na! Sobra Na! Palitan Na!" ("Enough! Too much! Change it!") in the movement which brought down the Marcos regime in 1986. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/11325/la-tonde%C3%B1a-strike Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 23 October 1913, suffragettes carried out an arson attack on Bristol University's recently-built boat house at their athletics ground.  Suffragette literature was left nearby as well as a note saying "Business before pleasure. Hobhouse being responsible will pay. Release Mary Richardson."  Mary Richardson was a London suffragette who had recently been imprisoned for an arson attack on a house in Hampton-on-Thames. Hobhouse was presumably aristocrat and Liberal cabinet minister Charles Hobhouse. In retaliation for the attack, around 300 Bristol University students attacked the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) shop which was nearby, smashing its windows, and burning its literature in the street. The student publication subsequently stated: “We may congratulate ourselves on the completeness of our revenge on the ‘Suffs'… The arm of the law is just too short to reach these female fanatics”. This incident was one of many such arson attacks by the WSPU. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/12633/bristol-sports-pavilion-attack Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 22 October 1921, workers at the Castleconnell fisheries in Ireland went on strike after their boss repeatedly failed to attend arbitration meetings to address their demands. When he failed to make concessions, workers escalated their tactics by occupying fisheries and declaring a soviet (workers council). The Dáil cabinet instructed police and volunteers to evict the strikers, but the workers held out until December 22, when they agreed to leave for a final arbitration session, which sided very much with the workers. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/12632/castleconnell-fisheries-strike Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 21 October 1935, the St Vincent labour rebellion began on the British-occupied Caribbean island when workers protesting against high prices in the capital, Kingstown, were fired on by police. People were protesting against plans to maintain sugar tariffs which helped producers at the expense of consumers. They held an angry rally outside the courthouse, where they smashed windows and damaged the cars of officials. The governor and attorney general were attacked, and the crowd ransacked the office of a councillor and plantation owner, and liberated 10 prisoners. Armed police read the Riot Act and then began firing into the crowd, killing one and injuring several. Rioting then spread to Georgetown and Chateaubelair, and protesters cut telephone wires and destroyed bridges. At midnight that night, a British warship arrived and authorities declared a state of emergency the next day which lasted for 3 weeks.  More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9431/st-vincent-labour-rebellion Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 20 October 1901, hundreds of workers at the sugar refinery in Rosario, Argentina, demonstrated outside their factory for a pay increase and a maximum 10-hour working day. The strike was attended by anarchist leaders such as Romulo Ovidi. After being identified by the police, the officers tried to arrest them without provocation, unleashing disorder, which they tried to suppress with sabres. Anarchist and Yugoslavian migrant worker Cosme Budislavich, 34, was shot in the back of the head by the police as he tried to flee the scene. Later, officers arrested other workers and witnesses. The working class of various industries - including railway workers, mill workers and bricklayers - responded three days later with a general strike and a repudiation rally attended by more than 8000 people, including Virginia Bolten. Today, a square in Rosario is named after Cosme Budislavich. Before the strike, Florencio Sánchez, journalist and playwright, wrote: "Workers! Everywhere in the world our comrades are fighting for their welfare against the usurers of all countries, showing that the exploited are not ready to compromise. The time of the sheep who let themselves be sheared is gone. The bosses have henchmen to guard the wealth produced by us; they have everything they need to resist: we have our arms and our unbreakable will to defend ourselves and to triumph. And when they think to crush us by hunger, let us agree that bread and freedom are not asked for, they are taken". "We are all exploited and therefore we must unite to fight against capital. Long live workers' solidarity! Long live the strike!" More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9321/cosme-budislavich-killed-by-police Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 19 October 1945, the UK Labour government decided to deport hundreds of Chinese seamen who were living in Liverpool, 20,000 of whom had been brought to the city to assist the war effort in World War II.  The Home Office claimed they were "an undesirable element" in the city. However, in reality the law-abiding behaviour of Chinese migrant workers had received much official praise.  Government records show the real reason was that local "authorities were anxious to secure the use of the housing accommodation which the Chinese occupied".  The government had no legal justification for the deportations, so to expel them authorities varied the sailors' landing conditions so that they would have to leave by a certain date. Any still in the city beyond that point could then be arrested and sent back to China.  Even many men with British wives and British-born children were deported, and they were not informed that they had the legal right to stay. Some of their wives were then stripped of their citizenship and forced to leave as well. For others, and unmarried couples, the men were forced to leave their partners and children in Britain, never to see them again.  More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9142/uk-decides-to-expel-chinese-seamen Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 18 October 1931, German workers in Braunschweig went on strike in protest against the Nazis. In the latter half of 1931 there were 25 political strikes by 30,000 workers in protest against fascism, with many more the following year.  However, they remained mostly short stoppages in small and medium enterprises and were insufficient to damage the state and stop the rise of the Nazis. Pictured: Left: German anti-Nazi protest in Berlin, 1932, featuring the 3 arrows symbol. Right: Headquarters of Anti-Fascist Action in Berlin. We have posters and other items using German anti-fascist artwork from the 1930s available to help fund our work: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/anti-fascist Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 17 October 1950, miners of the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers went on strike against the Empire Zinc Company.  Their initial demands were for the end of discriminatory pay which paid white workers more than Mexican workers, and an end to segregated housing. Later, they added indoor plumbing and hot water for Mexican-American homes to their list of demands.  The company fought back, sending police to harass picketers, posting eviction notices on company houses, cutting off credit to strikers at the company grocery store, and sending in scabs. In time, miners from other companies in the area joined the picket line.  Eight months into the strike, the company got a court injunction forbidding the strikers to return to the picket line, and so the wives of the workers took up the picket line to get around the company’s legal tactic. The women faced sexism, police violence, and mass arrest but stayed strong.  After 15 months, the company gave into nearly every demand, agreeing to improve wages and benefits and provide hot water to homes in the town.  The strike drew national attention and was dramatised in the 1954 film “Salt of the Earth,” which was mostly acted out by workers rather than professional actors and was directed and produced by filmmakers blacklisted by Hollywood.  More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8938/salt-of-the-earth-strike Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 16 October 1951, firefighters in Britain took their first ever national industrial action with an unofficial "spit and polish" strike, in response to attacks on pay and conditions. The action consisted of responding to emergency calls and putting out fires but refusing all other routine duties like domestic chores and training. The background to the dispute was fire services reverting back to the control of local authorities after World War II, with councils claiming they could not afford the pay firefighters the same salaries they received during the war. However, historians like Victor Bailey believe that authorities wanted to undermine the organisation of fire service workers. In an effort to break the action, bosses began suspending, fining, demoting, disciplining and sacking firefighters, and sending in police to eject workers from fire stations but this failed to deter the workers. On 19 November, the Fire Brigades Union declared the "spit and polish" action official. While public support was already behind the firefighters, a fire in London in which three FBU members facing disciplinary action were killed turned opinion even more against management. The London County Council swiftly dropped its other disciplinaries and by Christmas local fire authorities caved in, many of them reinstating sacked or demoted firefighters and repaying fines paid. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8830/spit-and-polish-action Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 15 October 1913, Indian workers at the Farleigh colliery near Newcastle, South Africa, went on strike in protest against a tax on former indentured servants. The move was part of an ongoing campaign against racist pass laws in the white-ruled British colony. The laws restricted the movement of Indian people, did not recognise Asian marriages or allow the immigration of spouses, and imposed a £3 per year tax on former indentured servants. This extremely high tax effectively forced many Indian migrants back into indentured servitude. A campaign the previous decade had faltered, but returned in September 1913 when Indian women defied the laws and crossed from Natal into Transvaal and vice versa. The women from Natal were arrested, but those from Transvaal were not, so they persuaded miners in the region to begin going on strike. On October 15, a committee of resisters addressed 78 workers at the Farleigh colliery, who then promptly went on strike. They were arrested and ordered to return to work, but they refused. Mohandas Gandhi and other organisers then helped to spread the strike until eventually over 20,000 workers were on strike. Many strikers and organisers were arrested and imprisoned, and some workers were shot and killed by police. But the strike persisted until late November, after which the government set up a commission of inquiry. In 1914, Gandhi and the government came to an agreement which resulted in the implementation of the Indian Relief Bill, which recognised Indian marriages and abolished the tax and any arrears. However, restrictions on movement remained, and more laws were later implemented which further discriminated against Asians with respect to whites. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10655/strike-against-pass-laws Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 14 October 1976, over a million Canadian workers stage a one-day strike to protest wage and price controls. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had actually campaigned against wage controls during the 1974 elections but his measures were considered to be the worst attack on labour since the 1930s. In response to the walk out, wage controls were reversed eight months before they were initially supposed to end, and the strike strengthened the labour movement as a whole. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8623/1-million-canadians-strike Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 13 October 1948, 181 drivers at the Ruppert brewery in Manhattan went on wildcat strike in support of 21 drivers who had failed to keep up with excessively quick delivery schedules. Their union, the United Brewery Workers, had sanctioned the sackings and did not approve the walkout. Bosses claimed the following morning that everything was back to normal, but had to admit by the end of the day that workers had ignored the union's call to return to work and the strike had spread to 10 other breweries and that 2,687 workers were out. Soon, 3,500 were on strike and New York's local beer supply was paralysed. They quickly won reinstatement for the drivers, but kept up their stoppage, demanding the scrapping of the schedules. The union tried to force its members back to work, and the employers sued the union and brought in police to safeguard the supply of out-of-state beer, but the workers held out for just under a month until all breweries in the city caved in. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8525/ruppert-brewery-wildcat-strike Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 12 October 1919, 150 Royal Navy sailors mutinied and broke out of their ships at Port Edgar upon hearing they were being sent to the Baltic to fight against the Russian revolution. The desertion prevented the first destroyer flotilla from departing. Most of the mutineers were arrested and 10 imprisoned: despite the government having pledged that only volunteers would be sent to fight against the Russians.  More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8435/150-royal-navy-sailors-mutiny Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 11 October 1884, one of the longest-burning fires in the world began when striking mine workers set fire to the New Straitsville mine in Ohio. Miners employed by the Columbus & Hocking Coal and Iron Company had walked out on strike in June, and mine bosses hired scab replacement workers in their place. To prevent the mines from operating, a group of unknown people set fire to mine cars and pushed them into six mines in the area, setting them on fire. The employers attempted to put the fire out but failed, and in the 1930s the government attempted to create barriers to slow the fire, but were also unsuccessful. At points, fires lept over 30 m into the air and could be seen for miles around. Thousands of tourists came to the area and even paid 25 cents to see local guides cook eggs and heat coffee over the subterranean fire. So far over 200 square miles of coal deposits have been burned, and the fire is still burning today (2022). More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/11074/new-straitsville-mine-fire Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory. See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History