On this day in Labor History the year was 1949.
That was the day that is remembered as “Kemi Bloody Thursday” in Finland.
Two strikers were killed.
Kemi is a lumber town in northern Finland.
The lumber workers in the area went out on strike when the government proposed slashing their wages by more than thirty percent.
The strike was soon joined by sawmill and dock workers.
The walk out caused a massive log-jam on the Kemijoki River.
On the fateful day 3,000 strikers engaged in a peaceful march.
They encountered armed police, and a confrontation ensued.
The police had guns on their side.
The workers had only rocks and sticks.
One striker was shot and killed.
Another was hit by a truck.
Finnish army troops were called in to Kemi.
Twenty-two strike leaders were arrested.
In response to the violence, sympathy strikes were called by other unions, including the seaman’s union.
These strikes were seen by many as a fight between the Finnish elected government and Communists in the nation’s trade unions.
Officials in the United States worried the strikes were an attempt by Communists to open the door to intervention in Finland by the Soviet Union.
After World War II, Cold War politics shaped responses to labor struggles in many nations.
A song, Fly Black-Winged Bird, remembers the fallen workers.
The lyrics, translated to English, begin, “Fly, black-winged bird, with blood on your feathers across the lands. From village to village carry your message. Open up, Autumn sky for the sad news to spread. Shame on a country where an unarmed man gets shot. Shame on the one who calls the shots.”
March 20 - Another Deadly Explosion
March 19 - Wartime President Pushes for Labor Peace
March 18 - Wartime Workers Betrayed
March 17 - The Hoggs Hollow Tragedy
March 16 - Big Bill Haywood Talks General Strike
March 15 - The Grapes of Wrath Opens in Theaters
March 14 - Remembering Walter Crane
March 13 - Ending Jim Crow on the Job
March 12 - OSHA Safety Incentives
March 11 - Raising Conditions for an Industry
March 10 - Radium Girls
March 9 - Striking the Mines
March 8 - IBEW Strikes to Win
March 7 - Work Faster! Work Faster!
March 6 - International Unemployed Day
March 5 -Lordstown Syndrome
March 4 - Mismanagement Kills an Airline
March 3 - Wildcat Strikes Hit Chrysler and Briggs
March 2 - Greyhound Bus Strike Begins
March 1 - The Hoover Dam Goes Public
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