On this day in 1919, the United Mine Workers (UMW) initiated a nationwide strike of more than 400,000 coal miners, demanding better wages and a 30-hour week. The U.S. declared the strike illegal while the media smeared workers as communists.
U.S. Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer, the same individual behind the infamous Palmer Raids, declared the strike illegal by invoking the Lever Act, a wartime measure that made it a crime to interfere with the production or transportation of necessities.
The law had never been used against a union before, and in fact American Federation of Labor (AFL) founder Samuel Gompers had been promised by President Woodrow Wilson that the Lever Act would not be used to suppress labor actions.
The strike was subject to Red Scare propaganda: coal operators made false charges that Lenin and Trotsky had ordered the strike and were financing it, and some of the press repeated those claims. Others used words like "insurrection" and "Bolshevik revolution". Because of this propaganda and the Attorney General's injunction against the strike, the UMW called the strike off on November 8th.
Many workers ignored this order, however, and the strike continued for over a month, with a final agreement being reached on December 10th. Workers won a 14% wage increase and the creation of an investigatory commission to mediate wage issues.
The US miners' strikes, 1919-1922 - Jeremy Brecher
:worker
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I went on a date and it was nice and fun and we wanted to go out again, but I am so very mentally ill that I do not think I have the capacity to see them very much :'(
I have a very hard time all day every day and when I talk to this person they're like "what's up with you how's your day? :)" and the true answer is "I am fighting for my life surrounded by utter darkness" but like I just don't think that's hot so I think I should just spare this person the trouble and worry only about myself for a while
You can see them and be like "i'm lowkey goth in my outlook
"
Maybe, but I talk about that kinda stuff with people I date. It's nice to have someone you can open up to about it
Samesies. I've been lucky enough to find some people that want to talk to me about mental health stuff when one or both of us are having a hard time. ymmv but, like, with serous mental health problems, at least for me, I kind of just have to be up front and explain what's going on because it's going to come up sooner or later.
Opening up would mean saying some very alarming and disturbing things. I think I need to take serious action to get a hold of my mental health before something bad happens. But I currently live alone and am afraid of starting a new psychiatric medication while alone because I had a psychotic episode last time.
Like I might need to quit my job and move back in with family or take a leave of absence or some shit. Lord help me, I may even need to stop posting.
Maybe try speaking the truth in a joking tone?
"what's up with you how's your day? :)" "I am fighting for my life surrounded by utter darkness"
"but other than that I'm good"
If a romantic partner doesn't want to share in your existential dread and share with you the meaninglessness of existence then they are just a fuck buddy.