Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
76 days of Union Struggle
Wisconsin Unit sends its revolutionary salutes to the Veterans of the Struggle
Wisconsin in general, and Milwaukee in Particular, have long been the Hub for the brewery industry in America owing to a history of immigration from the world brewery hubs of Middle and Eastern Europe.
Local 9 was at one point the most powerful union in Wisconsin, founded in the 1800’s it united brewery workers and workers from other related trades into a large block that the bosses feared. By the 1950’s working standards for Wisconsin brewery were faltering, they suffered from lower wages and longer working hours than their east coast counterparts and so as the union contract came close to its expiration date Local 9 set forth its demands, they where
$0.25 wage increase per hour ($2.77 today) for all workers
Reduction in Working hours from 40 to 35 per week due to the increase in automation reducing the need for long working hours
Additional holidays
Improvements to pensions and health plans
Months of discussion with the block of Breweries, those being Gettelman Brewing Co., Independent Brewery, Schlitz Brewing Co., Miller Brewing Co., Pabst Brewing Co., and Blatz Brewing Co. yielded no results and so on May 14th 7,100 workers from all the breweries staged a Walkout followed by an overwhelming vote in favor of the strike action. The Local bars had been informed of the strike ahead of time and had stocked up in an attempt to outlast the striking workers. In an attempt to avoid a national strike Schlitz offered concession to Brewery workers in Brooklyn however this only galvined the Wisconsin workers and steeled their hearts. Only 2 of the Brewery companies, Schlitz and Pabst could rely on breweries outside of Wisconsin; the rest were totally shut down by the strike. Finally late into July Blatz Brewery Co. was forced to cave to the demands of the workers and thus the other Companies were brought down with it and the Union negotiated on favorable terms. The Union won the day but the capitalists employed new tactics to undermine the union, seeing that they could not beat them in open struggle they further degenerated Local 9 from within
militant unions such as Local 9 would see themselves be corrupted by yellow unionism and gangsterism throughout the the 20th and 21st century, today there's hardly a union left whose leadership does not march to the drums of the capitalists to fatten their own wallets at the expense of the rank and file
Workers, union and non-union, join the Red International of Labor Unions and study carefully the red union handbook.
It is the workers who make everything that the capitalists have not the other way around, the only things the capitalists have ever made for us are the chains of exploitation and oppression
The only way out is the revolution of the proletariat led by the Comintern (SH)
