Today went so bad at work that the appeal of solidarity suddenly calls to me.
Wisconsin Labor History 1886: In the late 1800s, most workers were expected to work 10 to 14 hours a day. In May 1886, thousands of Milwaukee workers demonstrated in support of a national movement for an 8-hour day. The demonstration turned into a bitter city-wide strike. The strike reached a climax when Wisconsin National Guard troops fired on strikers at a plant in the Bay View section of Milwaukee and killed five of them.Getting shot, however, is a real buzz kill for the thrill of righteous indignation and by the time the labor riots reached Oshkosh the initial responses were slightly more restrained.
Wisconsin Labor History 1898: The deputies were of no account. The first squad arrived in a ‘bus shortly after the assault upon Morris. They alighted and were immediately surrounded. One of them, it is said, struck a woman with his club and this was followed by a general attack upon the men. The deputies then made little or no resistance, retreating in bad order. None of the deputies were injured, but their clothes bore evidence that the women threw eggs with a great degree of accuracy.If Oshkosh women can still throw the egg with a great decree of accuracy, there may be job opportunities up the valley with the Packers.
