general strike

Sometime things fall apart and sometime they flow together. As the Wisconsin State Senate rammed through their union-busting bill Wednesday night, people in the capitol chanted "General strike!" And I heard an echo. Not of 1934, the last time there was a general strike in the US, but earlier. It was 1909, in the crowded Great Hall at New York's Cooper Union; a big union boss was talking about talks and a 16-year-old girl shouted out from the back: "WALK OUT." More than 30,000 shirtwaist factory workers walked off their jobs after that. This week's International Women's Day celebrates the anniversary of that strike, by mostly young, immigrant women like 16 year old Clara Lemlich. 700 women were arrested, many more beaten and spat on for being "On strike against God." They struck for eleven weeks. It was the first successful uprising of women workers in this country--but their success didn't go far enough. Had, it, the 1911 Triangle Factory fire that killed 146 of these workers two years later might never have happened. A documentary about the fire is available now from PBS's website, another one's coming from HBO. At the March 25 centennial commemoration, the names of all the dead will be read. But fewer Americans remember the demands these women and girls made... Not just for wage increases, but for the ability to have a say in the conditions of their workplace--the workplace that killed them. Those are the rights that will be taken from American workers if the Republicans' power grab is allowed to stand. Imagine, a century ago, if the rest of New York had stood with the women of the factories. Imagine if instead of 20,000, it had been 2 million workers marching. Or if it were to be today. Distributed by Tubemogul.

Welcome to the third day of our special coverage from the workers' protests across the country. Today's show features Columbus, Ohio as well as Madison, Wisconsin. Thanks again to our friends at The Uptake, Free Speech TV, and WORT FM in Madison for making this collaboration happen, and a special thanks to the Rev. Jesse Jackson for bringing us to Columbus with him! As thousands protest Ohio governor John Kasich's plan to gut public workers' collective bargaining rights, Brian Rothenberg of ProgressOhio notes that the election that put Kasich in charge was the result of a lot of people staying home out of frustration, and that those same people have been awakened by the moves of the new administration. Like governors in Wisconsin and Indiana, Kasich's early moves have sparked widespread anger, and a newly invigorated protest movement that isn't just made up of union members is striking back. Laura spoke to Rothenberg in Columbus, Ohio during the protests. "I think we've been inspired by Madison; I think we've been inspired by Egypt, frankly," says Ohio state representative Nickie Antonio from the statehouse in Columbus, where thousands of protesters were locked out yesterday when they attempted to protest Governor John Kasich's legislation to end their collective bargaining rights. Laura spoke with Rep. Antonio from the statehouse when protesters were allowed into what she called "The people's house." Back in Wisconsin, "This movement has to expand, we have no choice. They have no interest in compromise. . . we have to bend them or break them, because that's what they're doing to working class people in this state," says Ben Manski of Wisconsin WAVE, a new organization fighting austerity measures. He notes that labor organizations have nearly unanimously voted for to prepare for a general strike should Scott Walker's attack on unions be signed into law. And Kabzuag Vaj of Freedom, Inc. notes that, "If Governor Walker can attack people with some resources to fight back, he has no fear of poor people or people who have no resources." Laura sat down with Ben and Kabzuag before she left Madison for Columbus, Ohio to discuss the wider movement, expanding beyond union rights, in Wisconsin and the rest of the world. Distributed by Tubemogul.