United States 1917

Synopsis

On 27 June 1917 the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, or "wobblies") began a wartime strike at Bisbee, Arizona, demanding shorter hours, higher wages, and better working conditions for copper miners there. The mining companies rejected IWW demands; within three days roughly 80 percent of underground workers had stopped work, threatening to put the mines out of business. Both the "wobblies" and company supporters reportedly used threats and intimidation in the conflict. In a community with a tradition of hostility toward unionization, local authorities denounced the IWW "terrorists" and "German sympathizers" and quickly organized to crush the strike. This pivotal event in Arizona labor history ended on 12 July, when an armed posse headed by the local sheriff illegally forced nearly 1,200 IWW members, sympathizers, and "agitators" into cattle cars and deported them into the desert.

Timeline

• 1897: The Zionist movement is established under the leadership...