Brazos County Labor Collective

Today, June 18, in Labor History.

On this day, 18 June 1984, striking workers of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in Britain were assaulted by 6,000 police officers at the Battle of Orgreave. The British government wanted to close 20 coal pits and lay off 20,000 workers. The resulting strike by the NUM was the largest post-World War II strike in Britain with up to 142,000 mineworkers participating. The strike lasted 51 weeks, through 3 March 1985, with no concessions to the workers. Thatcher herself called the workers “the enemy within.”
The biggest confrontation of the strike was the Battle of Orgreave. Police armed with round shields and batons, and horse-mounted police, charged the miners. This was the first use of such aggressive tactics in Britain, which were imported from British colonial police forces’ experience suppressing riots of colonised peoples around the world.
One officer has said they were instructed to “use as much force as possible,” and the miners were “actually doing nothing” when the charge occurred.
95 miners were arrested and charged with rioting. Many remained in prison while waiting a year for the cases to be brought before a judge. Within 10 days in court, the prosecutors withdrew the charges due to obvious signs of fabricated evidence and lies on the part of the police officers. Many of the miners sued for assault, wrongful arrest, and malicious prosecution, and the South Yorkshire Police paid out £425,000 in damages without admitting fault.
In 2012, a BBC investigation revealed that many of the police statements may have been “coached” or fabricated, leading the modern South Yorkshire Police to submit itself to the review of the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The IPCC declined to investigate, and the victims of the Battle of Orgreave are still waiting for full justice.
Learn more about the dispute in our podcast series: https://workingclasshistory.com/tag/1984-5-miners-strike/

Agitate. Educate. Organize.

SpaceX and Grimes County have reached a tentative agreement to bring the Terafab facility to the Gibbons Creek area. The construction projection, which be the largest in U.S. history, could produce 1,800 jobs by 2030.

Overall, is this deal a good one or a bad one?

Grimes County releases documents detailing SpaceX Terafab agreement The agreements reveal a minimum $5 billion investment, an unsigned signature line, and a clause that lets SpaceX walk away at any time.

I want to urge the nurses who work at the St. Joseph healthcare syt in the Brazos Valley who recently joined the National Nurses United Union will support these health care professionals.

The Trump Administration’s new rule classifying nurses, including those in advanced nursing degrees as “non-professional” is an insulting denigration of the caring profession.

This groundless definition by the Department of Education effectively caps federal student loans for advanced nursing students, sharply raising education costs at a time when we need more midwives, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and nurse anesthetists.

Today in Norwich, I joined State Senator- Nurse Martha Marx, the Dean of the UCONN School of Nursing, the Connecticut Nursing Association, and rank-and-file nurses to call out this out-of-touch rule. 245,000 nurses signed a petition in strong opposition to the rule. Last week, I grilled Education Secretary McMahon, who devised this appalling measure. Congress must reverse it before it takes effect on July 1st.

On this day, May 11, in 1894, the great Pullman Palace Car Strike started. It lasted until July 20.

Pullman Strike - Wikipedia The Pullman Strike comprised two interrelated strikes in 1894 that shaped national labor policy in the United States during a period of deep economic depression. First came a strike by the American Railway Union (ARU) against the Pullman Company's factory in Chicago in spring 1894. When it failed, t...

“Legislation unveiled in Congress on Tuesday could raise the nation’s minimum wage for the first time since 2009.

“The bill, the ‘Living Wage for All Act,’ was introduced by Reps. Delia Ramirez and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, both Democrats from Illinois, along with Reps. Analilia Mejia (D‑N.J.) and Lateefah Simon (D-Cali.). If enacted, the bill would raise the federal minimum wage to $25 an hour, would more than triple the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.”

US minimum wage would jump to $25 an hour under new bill in Congress The bill would more than triple the current federal minimum wage, which was last updated in 2009.

Today is May Day, a day to recognize and appreciate all of the workers who have struggled over the years for many of the rights and privileges we have today.

Thank you, Worker, for all you do to improve our lives and the world.

Solidarity!

If you live in the Brazos Valley and are a member of a union or are a former union member, the Brazos Valley Labor Collective would like to connect with you.

Texas is not a union friendly state. That’s why we need to connect, meet, and get to know and support one another as workers committed to Union membership and activity.

If you are interested in doing this, please Personal Message the Collective.

Note: the moderator of this page is a former member of the Communication Workers of America and American Federation of Teachers unions.

Fiesta Voter Registration.

Meet local candidates. Register to vote. Connect with other Democrats and Progressives.

Saturday, April 25, 4pm-6pm, at Sue Haswell Park in Bryan