Comments on: 8 Strikes that Turned Ugly (or Inspired Keanu Reeves Movies)

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 12:35:06 +0000

The Homestead Strike in PA in the around the turn of the 20th century, and the Pullman Strike were both pretty bloody. Carnegie brought in the Pinkertons to PA and barricaded the whole town. Both locations required workers to live in the company towns, so when they went on strike, they lost their homes as well. that’s pretty ballsy… not sure people would give up as much now.

By: Afton

Afton — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:58:06 +0000

The MLB strike in the 90′s not to mention the UPS strike. We went on vacation to Chicago and my grandmother forgot her diabetes medication. My mom tried to see about shipping it, but because of the strike it would take twice as long to reach us. We called her doctor and he called the local pharmacy to have her scripts filled.

By: Betty

Betty — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:38:05 +0000

The coal miner’s strike in Herrin, Illinois in 1922, otherwise known as the Herrin Massacre which gained the title “Bloody Williamson” for the county Herrin is in.
here
16 strikebreakers beaten and eventually killed by striking miners and town people.

By: Jeff Young

Jeff Young — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:55:29 +0000

The miners march that culminated with the Battle of Blair Mtn. in Logan County, WV, Sept. 1921 was the largest armed insurrection in the US since the Civil War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain
Not surprising that it doesn’t make the list here–few Americans know this important event in US labor history. Now the very ground where the battle took place is threatened with obliteration from mountaintop removal coal mining.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 13:18:58 +0000

What about the NHL strike? I was so upset that year…

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 26 May 2010 18:07:19 +0000

The problem that I have with the UAW is negotiating pay for not working. The auto companies are paying thousands of workers to sit on their butts at home. And people wonder why the auto companies are in so much financial trouble.

Yes unions have brought good change, but some have taken it too far.

By: MicAdams

MicAdams — Tue, 25 May 2010 11:46:11 +0000

well I personally have no love for unions, particularly the one i used to be a member of.
it was put to me as I could only dispute a supervisor’s complaint if i had the union to “back me up.” well after galdly taking my money month after month, I had an issue arise. I went to my union rep for help and was told ” ok, we’ll be there.” We went to the meeting, sure enough they showed up. then promptly sat in the corner cleaning his nails, ignoring the severe dressing down I recieved, then stood up, said, “well I think that covers it,” and then walked out.
No help what so ever.
i went to complain about him and was told that this was standard practice for those who deserved their punishment. During this time, no one asked what had happened, what the charge was, my side of the story, nothing.
When I told them I was getting out of the union because I wasn’t going to give my money to fund people that weren’t worth squat, they told me that though you can join whenever you like, you can only leave it during one week out of each year, and oops sorry, it was the previous week.
Needless to say, I was livid and threatened to sue. then they made me sign a waiver not to sue, and let me out.
Quite convienently, I found myself “outsourced” about a month later.
So yeah, I hate unions. Or at least the ones that have forgotten about the people they were founded to protect.

By: Brent

Brent — Tue, 11 May 2010 20:14:13 +0000

How about the Giant Gold Mine strike in Yellowknife Canada that left 9 replacement workers dead after a deliberately set explosion underground in 1992?

By: Hallie

Hallie — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 01:03:57 +0000

kudos to the person mentioning the Matewan Massacre! West Virginia appreciates it!

And for the record, the dust does spell something in the Lion King but its not “SEX” its “SFX”: the effects group working on the Lion King.

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:38:03 +0000

It’s ironic that someone comes on here denouncing unions while defending Pinkerton. While unions have a dubious past and sometimes questionable leadership, if you decide to research the history of the Pinkerton agency, Dave, you’ll find a history tainted in blood money. Pinkerton guards were sometimes better armed than many branches of the military at the time.

ironically, reCaptcha: violent housman