On This Day in Working Class History

On this day, 28 March 1919, the state of Arkansas joined the majority of other US states in introducing a law prohibiting anarchism and communism. The law, to "define and punish anarchy and… Bolshevism" barred any "attempt to overthrow [the] present form of government of the State of Arkansas or the United States" and "exhibit[ing] any flag, etc, which is calculated to overthrow present form of government." Violations of the law could incur fines of up to $1,000 and imprisonment of up to six months.

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On 27 March 1974 a strike began on Christmas Island, an Australian colony essentially run by the British Phosphate Commissioners (BPC), a phosphate mining company. The firm employed mostly Asian workers from Singapore, Malaysia and China, who were low-paid and housed in inadequate accommodation, and European workers who were paid five times as much as Asians and had better quality housing and schools.
The catalyst for the strike was the sacking of an interpreter, Teo Boon How, on March 26, who was due to be deported the next day. In his support, over 1100 Asian workers took to the streets instead of going to work, forcing BPC to reinstate How.
The following year, How helped establish a secret union, the Union of Christmas Island Workers (UCIW), which would organise further strikes.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7925/christmas-island-dismissal-strike

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See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
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On this day, 26 March 1915, police in Sioux City, Iowa, arrested 14 members of the revolutionary Industrial Workers of the World union for holding street meetings in an attempt to drive the union out of town. 
The IWW had begun a free speech fight to defend its right to organise. Members responded to a call and flocked to the town, holding street meetings to get arrested and flood the jails. 
When these 14 defendants were arrested, they refused to cooperate in court and jail, and when set to work on a rock pile they went on strike and set fires in their cells, and more militants kept arriving. 
By late April the police caved and agreed to free speech for the IWW. 
Learn more about the union and its free speech fights at this time in our podcast episode 6: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/05/23/wch-e6-the-industrial-workers-of-the-world-in-the-us-1905-1918/

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On this day, 25 March 2008 two Chinese construction workers were killed and at least four injured during a strike in Mongomo, Equatorial Guinea.
Workers employed by Jianyu Overseas Development, a subsidiary of the Wheihai group, working on infrastructure projects, went on strike a few days prior. Guinean troops arrived, stormed workers' dormitories, made several arrests and attempted to force strikers back to work.
When the workers refused, soldiers opened fire, killing and injuring several, and then arrested around 100 workers. Hundreds of workers were subsequently sent back to China, where they were also censured by the Chinese government.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7909/mongomo-construction-strike

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See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
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On 24 March 2008 around 8000 workers at the Dacia-Renault factory in Romania launched an indefinite strike demanding pay increases of 50-70%. It was the biggest private sector strike in the country since the overthrow of the state socialist government in 1989. And for the first time in the country, workers based their pay demands not on Romanian salaries but on salaries of Renault workers in Turkey or France, who earned €900-2000 per month, compared with only €300 in Romania.
The strike ended on April 11, when union leaders announced that employers had agreed to a package of concessions equating to a pay increase of roughly 30-40%.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7896/dacia-renault-strike

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.
See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
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Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
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If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History