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On This Day in 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

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10 July 1949: Ben Fletcher dies
Jul 10, 2026
On this day, 10 July 1949, Black Industrial Workers of the World dockworker activist Ben Fletcher died at his home in Brooklyn, aged 59.
Fletcher was the leading organiser in Local 8 of the union, which organised the multiracial workforce on the Philadelphia docks in the early part of the 20th-century, and he was one of dozens of IWW members imprisoned during World War I.
His funeral was attended by old comrades who praised his lifetime of activism, his sense of humour, his effectiveness as a speaker and more. Sam Weiner said:
“Ben, we won’t forget the great part you played in the struggle to emancipate the workers, and we will carry on inspired by your example.”
Learn more about his life and activism in our podcast episodes 73-74: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e73-ben-fletcher/

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.
9 July 1919: Allentown bartenders strike
Jul 9, 2026
On this day, 9 July 1919, bartenders in Allentown, Pennsylvania, went on strike to impress on citizens the "horrors" of prohibition which was due to be introduced. There was a working class movement of hundreds of thousands called "No beer, no work" which aimed to stop prohibition with strike action. However this is the only actual strike we are aware of.
We have produced items commemorating the No beer no work movement, using their original artwork, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/no-beer-no-work

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.
8 July 1908: Birmingham coal strike
Jul 8, 2026
On this day, 8 July, 1908, Black and white coal miners in Birmingham, Alabama, walked out on strike together against an attempt from bosses to eliminate the union. The strike grew quickly to a majority of workers in the area, including those who had previously been scabs. Bosses used evictions, armed thugs, scabs from the North, and forced convict labour to try to break the strike, and the press advocated vigilante attacks and tried to rouse white residents against the multiracial union. Eventually the Governor declared martial law and sent in the army against the workers, breaking the strike and marking a massive setback both to workers and to racial unity in the South. 
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10815/birmingham-coal-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.
7 July 1864: Isabelo de los Reyes born
Jul 7, 2026
On this day, 7 July 1864, Filipino labour leader Isabelo de los Reyes was born in Vigan. He became a journalist and opponent of Spanish colonial rule, for which he was jailed and tortured. He was then deported to Spain and held in the infamous Montjuic Castle in Barcelona, alongside many anarchist political prisoners.
In 1901 he was allowed to return to the Philippines, and he brought with him a library of books by socialists like Karl Marx and anarchists like Mikhail Bakunin. He founded the Unión Obrera Democrática Filipina, and helped organise several strikes.
See our timeline of his life and activism on our Stories app, including sources and maps: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/tag/9461/isabelo-de-los-reyes

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.
6 July 1934: Couva Plantation riot
Jul 6, 2026
On this day, 6 July 1934, 800 workers from two plantations in Couva, Trinidad, demonstrated in front of the warden's office complaining at the lack of work. Violence erupted when police attempted to keep protesters away from businesses, to which workers responded by looting. Unrest spread to other plantations, two bosses were attacked and one company headquarters was stoned and set on fire. British colonial police arrested 12 demonstrators. 
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10627/trinidad-plantation-riot

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.
5 July 1777: Scab first used in print
Jul 5, 2026
On this day, 5 July 1777, the word ‘scab’, meaning ‘strikebreaker’, was used in print for the first time. One of the most important words in the working class vocabulary! 
By the late 16th century the word "scab" had come to be used as an English insult, somewhat akin to "lowlife" or "scoundrel". But at some point it began to be used by workers in industrial disputes as a label for workers who crossed picket lines and worked while their colleagues were striking for better pay or conditions. 
It first appeared in print in the Bonner and Middleton’s Bristol Journal, during a strike of shoemakers, where it reported: "The Conflict would not been [sic] so sharp had not there been so many dirty Scabs". 
On scabs, author Jack London famously wrote the following: “After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, the vampire, He had some awful substance left with which He made a scab. A scab is a two-legged animal with a cork-screw soul, a water-logged brain, a combination backbone of jelly and glue. Where others have hearts, he carries a tumor of rotten principles." 
This quotation is illustrated in one of our July T-Shirts of the Month, made by a workers' cooperative and supporting grassroots unions in South Asia. Available here with global shipping: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/search?q=scab

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.
4 July 1998: Las Vegas anti-racists murdered
Jul 4, 2026
On this day, 4 July 1998, best friends Lin "Spit" Newborn, 24, a Black skinhead and singer, and Daniel Shersty, 20, a white US air force serviceman - both members of Anti-Racist Action (ARA) - were murdered in the desert outside Las Vegas by a gang of white supremacists. 
Newborn's friend, PJ Perez, described him as "a madman. A poet. A motherfucker whose good side you'd want to stay on. He was a father, a son, a passionate and dedicated fighter for what's right." Shersty was born to a working class family in Florida, and joined the air force in order to fund college which his parents could not afford.
The pair, both amateur musicians, met in Las Vegas, became fast friends and helped co-found the local chapter of militant anti-fascist group ARA. ARA took the fight to neo-Nazis who were recruiting in the local skinhead scene and attacking Black and Latine schoolchildren as well as white "race traitors".
One neo-Nazi was swiftly jailed for the murders, and others were convicted in 2012. ARA continued their fight against white supremacists across the US, and helped disrupt many of their activities, and successfully drove them from many local youth subcultures.
Learn more about Anti-Racist Action and the group's origins in Minneapolis in our podcast episode 49: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e49-anti-racist-action-in-minneapolis/
And check out our book, We Go Where They Go, the definitive history of ARA, also available on the podcast episode page.

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.
3 July 1918: Isle of Man general strike
Jul 4, 2026
On this day, 3 July 1918, a general strike began on the British dependency, the Isle of Man. Sailors, dockers, school workers, transport workers, shop assistants and others walked out on strike demanding that the price of bread remain at 9p – the same price it was in the UK, where flour was subsidised by the state. Previous agitation on the Isle of Man had pressured the local government to implement a subsidy as well for six months to match the price, amidst rising prices during World War I. But that subsidy just expired and the price was scheduled to be increased to 1 shilling (12p).
Businesses that attempted to remain open were invaded by crowds of pickets and shut down. Fishing boats were allowed to dock, but fish had to be sold at prices set by a strike committee which was established by the workers. The strike committee also permitted shops in working class areas to open between the hours of 7 AM and 9 AM to allow people to buy food.
On the second day of the strike, the governor approached the strike committee and offered them 10.5p per loaf. But this was refused. The governor then met with the legislative council, which caved in and agreed to restore the 9p price. As a result the strike ended on July 5.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7941/Isle-of-Man-general-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.
2 July 1848: St Croix enslaved revolt
Jul 4, 2026
On this day, 2 July 1848, enslaved people in St Croix (now the US Virgin Islands) rebelled, burned down plantations and besieged the town of Frederiksted. The Caribbean island was at that time a Danish colony, and it had been decreed that slavery would be abolished in 1859, but the enslaved workers refused to wait. 
After revolutions in Europe led to turmoil in nearby Martinique and Guadeloupe, hundreds of rebels seized the moment and rose up. By the end of the day, only the local military garrison, Fort Frederiksværn, had not yet been overrun. 
The following day, the governor general, Peter von Scholten arrived. Faced with demands from the enslaved people to immediately abolish slavery, or they would burn the town to the ground, he relented and shouted out: “Now you are free, you are hereby emancipated.”
Technically von Scholten had no authority to abolish slavery, and he was strongly criticised by enslavers and Danish authorities. But faced with a fait accompli, Denmark had no real choice but to accept the situation. The agreement achieved by the formerly enslaved people went even further than just immediate emancipation, as the order issued on the night of July 3 also applied to the Danish colonies of St Thomas and St John, and directed that the enslaved had the right to keep their current housing and provisions for three months, and that elderly and ill labourers had to be looked after by the former enslavers "until further determination".
The old enslavers subsequently sued the Danish government demanding recompense for the loss of their "property". Danish Parliament rejected their claim, on the grounds that "slavery [was] itself an institution in conflict with religion and justice". But they did then agreed to pay a relatively low compensation figure of $50 per enslaved person.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9191/st-croix-enslaved-revolt

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.
1 July 1919: Prohibition strike planned
Jul 1, 2026
On this day, 1 July 1919, prohibition of the sale of alcoholic drinks stronger than 2.75% in the United States was due to come into force. Hundreds of thousands of workers in New York and New Jersey had voted to strike on this day if the law was enforced. They wore pins declaring "No beer no work". 
Strike action was called off by union leaders, and prohibition was eventually introduced the following year. 
We have reproduced the workers' original artwork to help fund our work: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/no-beer-no-work

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.