On this day in labor history, the year was 1930.
That was the day hundreds of thousands of activists and unemployed poured into the streets worldwide for International Unemployed Day.
It was a coordinated campaign to protest conditions created by the stock market crash just four months earlier.
Workers and the poor were the first to feel the most devastating impacts of what was quickly becoming the Great Depression.
Organized primarily by Communists, the day’s actions highlighted the work of the newly formed Unemployed Councils and had a mass appeal.
The Unemployed Councils worked to distribute food, prevent evictions, secure utilities and link the needs of the unemployed to the trade unions.
The councils mobilized the unemployed in support during strikes as a way to stop scabbing. They organized hunger marches and protests at relief offices.
Tens of thousands came out in every city for Unemployed Day demonstrations.
In North America, cities like Boston, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Seattle and San Francisco all drew massive crowds estimated at 40,000 to 50,000 each.
Protesters demanded jobs and unemployment insurance.
In Chicago, tens of thousands overwhelmed the streets for over twelve hours.
In Detroit, and New York City, competing organizers challenged crowd estimates, with as many as 100,000 turning out in each city.
Confrontations broke out between protestors and police in both cities. Across the country, many of the unemployed were arrested or hospitalized.
In New York City, outraged communist activists asserted that protesters were met with water hoses, tear gas and guns as they marched down Broadway to City Hall.
Critics argued that crowd estimates were wildly exaggerated.
But the day of action forced governments around the world to acknowledge deteriorating conditions and devastating impact of the Great Depression.
December 7 - Strong Arming Goldminers
December 6 - Breaking Through the Racial Divide
December 5 - Striking in Solidarity
December 4 - Organizing to End Slavery
December 3 - Learning & Labor at Oberlin
December 2 - 21st Century Corporate Greed
December 1 - Standing Up for Themselves and Their Patients
November 30 - Angel of the Stockyards is Born
November 29 - The Fight for $15 & A Union
November 28 - Disaster in the Mines
November 27 - Death Trap in Newark
November 26 - The Birth of William Sylvis
November 25 - Chicago Printers Walk Off the Job
November 24 - The Hollywood Ten
November 23 - The Thibodaux Massacre
November 22 - Uprising of the 20,000
November 21 - Autoworkers Join the Postwar Strike Wave
November 20 - Birth of the Time Clock
November 19 - Joe Hill’s Final Words
November 18 - Accident or Murder?
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Regenerative Skills
The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast