Boot Biters

In this jam-packed episode we explore a series of strikes led by oil workers at the Abadan oil refinery in Iran, culminating in an oil industry general strike in 1946. We dive into the advent of the global oil industry, British colonization and economic exploitation through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, explore the impact of WWII occupation of Iran on Iranian workers, the segregated company city...

In this episode, we're taking a slight tangent to put a critical eye on a controversial strike/rebellion that you almost certainly know of if you're Australian, but you might not have heard about otherwise! I sure didn't. The Eureka Rebellion saw a group of angry settler gold miners briefly take up arms against the British colonial government in response to increasing taxes, police violence, corru...

In the 4th (AND FINAL!!!!) part of our West Virginia Mine Wars coverage, we're diving into the most tumultuous period of the mine wars, the absolute batshit crazy summer of 1921, the murder of Sit Hatfield, the armed miner's march, and the Battle of Blair Mountain. Need I say more? Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online: Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/ You...

In the 3rd part of our West Virginia Mine War coverage, we're diving into the Matewan Massacre, the infamous confrontation when Matewan Chief of Police and unexpected union ally Sid Hatfield and Mayor Testerman confronted prominent Baldwin Felts agents in the middle of an illegal eviction. We also cover the importance of Mingo and Logan counties that found themselves in the middle of a heated tug...

In the 2nd part of our West Virginia Mine War coverage, we're diving into the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike, when coal companies in Paint Creek refused to recognize union negotiations for a simple wage adjustment and lit the metaphorical match on a bed of gasoline-doused straw. We cover more Baldwin Felts shenanigans including the Bull Moose Special, along with the Dirty Eleven and the guerrilla...

Before we talk about major events like the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike, the Matewan Massacre, and the Battle of Blair Mountain, we need to understand how a full-blown worker insurrection comes to be. In this episode we contextualize the violence that was inherent in West Virginia's company coal towns. They really had it all: stolen wages, police in the pockets of coal companies, freedoms of spe...

***Warning: this one's got some fruity language and touches on some darker themes very applicable to the present day.**** With increasing boldness from ICE and CBP, it felt right for a timely reminder that the U.S. security apparatus has always had a problem with exerting violent and sometimes deadly force against workers, but especially BIPOC and immigrant workers. In 1913, not for the first time...

Yay it's our first listener recommended strike! Today we're learning about the 1973 wildcat strike that broke out at a Ford plant in Cologne, Germany when predominantly Turkish guest workers stood up for their unjustly fired colleagues and walked out. There are a lot of interesting parallels to US migrant worker policy to talk about. While this one got shut down violently by police, it gained a lo...

This one has another cool labor song! Also weirdly nepo babies doing good? In this episode, we're covering the 1909 Shirtwaist Strike or the Uprising of the 20,000, when predominantly Jewish and Italian women launched a general strike in the garment industry in New York City, winning better pay and strengthening their union, not to mention inspiring a whole lot of other workers to demand better fo...

In this episode we're talking about the Bread and Roses or the Singing Strike of 1912, when an insanely diverse and incredibly organized group of mill workers, many of them women, working in the industrial town of Lawrence, MA went on a successful strike to protest a wage cut. This strike was another dramatic one, with a sabotage plot orchestrated by the mill owners and women strikers duking it ou...

In this episode we're continuing the Pullman saga, but this time we're talking about the Black porters and maids who were busy developing their own union (with the coolest name) the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Their slow but steady movement would grow to result in not just the first negotiated bargaining contract between Black workers and a company in the U.S. but the birth of wider civil...

In ANOTHER two parter (I know! I know!) we're talking the 1894 Pullman Strike, when predominantly white factory workers living and working in the company town of Pullman went on strike. This one didn't end the most hopefully, with business cartels playing dirty, federal troops getting called in to violently suppress the strike, and strike leaders being arrested. BUT in our second part, we'll cover...

GLOWING VOMIT SAY WHAT? In this episode we cover the 1888 Matchwomen Strike that took place in the East End of London when women and girls walked out of a matchstick factory called Bryant and May after a retaliatory firing of one of their colleagues who was a whistleblower in a damning article. This action won a huge victory for their working conditions, pushed for legislative changes, and impacte...

In this episode, we learn about the mostly forgotten Chinese workers who predominantly built the Central Pacific Railroad. We cover the insane conditions they faced (from both the elements and the railway company) and the major risk they took in launching a strike along the tracks. While the strike was shut down, it did push the railway to quietly raise wages and institute pay raises during advers...

In this episode we cover the hostile landscape for worker organizing in apartheid South Africa, the immediate lead up to the 1973 Durban Strikes, and deep-dive into the strike wave that spread from factories in Durban and Pinetown to municipal workers in the city and turned into a powerful general strike. These strikes had a direct impact on future legislation and positioned trade unions and worke...

In this first part of a two-part episode series talking about the 1973 Durban Strikes, we set some contextual background and learn how labor issues played a major role in fueling apartheid. In this episode we learn about the colonial interests in the region, the various laws passed well before Apartheid that set the precedent, the rise of Afrikaner nationalism, and the strategy of the National Par...

Ey, it's the bulls! Cheese it! After discussing the real-life historical events of the 1899 Newsboys Strike, it's time to talk about the 1992 movie Newsies! What a movie for Disney to put out! We talk about the historical inaccuracies, the things the movie did right and well, and how they almost pushed the envelope even farther in the original screenplay (with a special guest star: the Specter of...

Soak 'em boys! Today we're discussing the real-life historical events that inspired the 1992 Disney movie Newsies and its later broadway adaptation: it's the 1899 Newsboys Strike! This strike has everything from super creative nicknames, a bitter feud between newspaper moguls and the impacts of yellow journalism, colorful transcripts from speeches and rallies, and kids armed with rocks and clubs h...

In this episode we learn about one of the most famous - and longest strikes - the Delano Grape Strike and Boycott that lasted from 1965 to 1970. Initiated by experienced Filipino organizers, this strike brought together Filipino and Mexican workers to develop the United Farm Workers (UFW) union. We'll learn about the many famous labor leaders involved including Larry Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, Ces...

In this episode we learn about the Arab American Auto Workers in Detroit who went on strike in 1973 to demand their union divest from its investments in Israel. We talk about their wins and losses, Black worker's cooperation with their Arab peers, the wider historical context of Palestinian activism and the BDS movement, and what happens when unions aren't acting in the interests of all their work...

The teacher is pulling out the TV to watch a movie in class today. I think we've all earned it! In the first episode of the Labor in Pop Culture series, we're taking a deep dive into the way labor organizing shows up in the hit TV show Severance (spoilers ahead!). From talking about the portrayal of Lumon that pulls from real world corporate shenanigans to the steady building of unity amongst the...

In this episode we cover a large, inspirational, multi-ethnic labor movement from 1946 that shook the monopoly that sugar companies held over Hawai'i. Workers and organizers learned lessons from other movements, prepared meticulously in advance, and purposefully brought in an element of fun to keep morale high and sustain themselves for a strike that lasted almost three months! The strike cost pla...

Migrant contract laborers in Namibia played a role in the wider movement for independence! The 1971 General Strike marked a major turning point in worker organizing across sectors, cities, and ethnic groups in the country and set the foundations for a wider political movement to overturn the South African mandate and the legacy of German colonialism. Let's learn about it! Find Boot Biters - A Labo...

We've talked about the first recorded work stoppage in history in our very first episode, but when did we actually start using the word strike and why? In this episode we bounce back to 1768 in Sunderland and London, where sailors and coal heavers were getting creative in their strikes to demand better pay. Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online: Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com...

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode describes graphic torture and discusses human rights abuses, including child death because of state neglect. I do give a heads up in episode before speaking about these topics, but wanted to caution upfront. In this episode, we learn about the successes and failures of a sampling of early strikes by migrant farmworkers in the Imperial Valley and the San Joaquin Valley...