Print of Ben Fletcher, in a cap with an IWW button. Above him it reads, Marine Transport Workers IU 510. Artwork by IWW member Carlos Cortez.
Today in #LaborHistory 3/15/1877: #BenFletcher was born. #AfricanAmerican #IWW #union. By 1916, nearly every #Philadelphia dock controlled by IWW thanks to his organizing. Nearly lynched in Virginia in 1917. #prison in 1918, for organizing workers during wartime.
Image: linocut print of African-American IWW organizer and longshoreman Ben Fletcher, by IWW artist, poet and muralist Carlos Cortez. Reads: Ben Fletcher Marine Transport Workers IU 510. The MTW-IWW introduced non-segregated union locals on the waterfronts of Baltimore, Norfolk and Philadelphia, as well as ports on the Gulf. The best organizer was Ben Fletcher. As an orator, his ringing voice needed no microphone. And his sense of humor put many a heckler on the run.
#BlackHistoryMonth bio of #BenFletcher #Philadelphia #IWW #union Local 8. His organizing led to all but 2 of Philly’s docks being under IWW control. Nearly lynched in Norfolk, #Virginia. #Prison for #treason for crime of organizing workers during war. #freespeech #racism #workingclass #LaborHistory
💥 Essential workers.
💥 Interracial waterfront rebellions.
💥 Labor history they didn’t teach you in school.
On this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour (Today at 1p)
🎤 With Robert W. Snyder, Peter Cole & Tim Sheard
Listen: www.wpfwfm.org/
#LaborRadioPod #WPFW #IWW #BenFletcher #COVIDWorkers
Police mug shots of Fletcher
Today in #LaborHistory 6/3/1913: #IWW Marine Transport Workers #Union in #NewOrleans #strike against #UnitedFruit. June 13 #police killed 2 workers. IWW organized much of Eastern Seaboard. Controlled all but 2 #Philadelphia docks. Led by #BenFletcher.
michaeldunnauthor.com/2021/05/13/b...
Poster of Ben Flectcher, in a cap with an IWW button on it, holding a MTW IU 510 union card--by Carlos Cortez. On a blue background. Reads: Ben Fletcher marine Transport Workers IU 510. Industrial Workers of the World. Includes smaller print that is difficult to read.
Today in #LaborHistory 5/27/1916: 3000 #IWW longshoremen marched in #Philadelphia, leading to #strike at non- #union docks. Black & white Wobblies fought together against scabs & #police. Led by #AfricanAmerican Wobbly, #BenFletcher.
Read more here: www.michaeldunnauthor.com/2021/05/13/b...
Photograph of Ben Fletcher, 1918. Ben Fletcher, a union organizer for Industrial Workers of the World, was photographed when he arrival at the United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas, September 1918. He was found guilty of "espionage and sedition" and sentenced to ten years in federal prison and fined $30,000. By U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128257560
Today in #LaborHistory 4/14/1917: #IWW #union sailors #strike #Philadelphia. #BenFletcher, #AfricanAmerican led organizing. Built one of the most antiracist, anticapitalist locals in US. #Prison for #sedition (organizing during war)
Read more: michaeldunnauthor.com/2021/05/13/b...
#racism
Print of Ben Fletcher, in a cap with an IWW button. Above him it reads, Marine Transport Workers IU 510. Artwork by IWW member Carlos Cortez.
Today in #LaborHistory 3/15/1877: #BenFletcher was born. #AfricanAmerican #IWW #union. By 1916, nearly every #Philadelphia dock controlled by IWW thanks to his organizing. Nearly lynched in Virginia in 1917. #prison in 1918, for organizing workers during wartime.
Image: linocut print of African-American IWW organizer and longshoreman Ben Fletcher, by IWW artist, poet and muralist Carlos Cortez. Reads: Ben Fletcher Marine Transport Workers IU 510. The MTW-IWW introduced non-segregated union locals on the waterfronts of Baltimore, Norfolk and Philadelphia, as well as ports on the Gulf. The best organizer was Ben Fletcher. As an orator, his ringing voice needed no microphone. And his sense of humor put many a heckler on the run.
#BlackHistoryMonth bio of #BenFletcher #Philadelphia #IWW #union Local 8. His organizing led to all but 2 of Philly’s docks being under IWW control. Nearly lynched in Norfolk, #Virginia. #Prison for #treason for crime of organizing workers during war. #freespeech #racism #workingclass #LaborHistory
