February 19, 1971
FEB. 10 - City-wide antiwar actions were slated this
afternoon in every major American city and demonstrations
were taking place on scores of campuses throughout the
country, as public anger at Nixon's invasion of Laos
continued to mount. The Student Mobilization Committee to End
the War in Vietnam, which called for teach-ins and protests
on campuses last week, announced plans for an emergency
National Student Antiwar Conference at Catholic University in
Washington, D.C., Feb. 19-21, "to plan a full reaction on a
national scale to the escalation."
At a Feb. 9 news conference in Washington, SMC National Organization Secretary Deborah Bustin said, "The potential of the student movement to join with antiwar forces in the community has yet to be fully realized. The SMC sees this escalation, coming at the time of the National Student Antiwar Conference, as a historical moment."
Bustin pointed to the massive demonstrations called by the National Peace Action Coalition for April 24 in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco as the focus for the SMC's spring program. She said these demonstrations "will be like the powerful mobilizations in November 1969 except that they will reflect another year's frustration and anger over the continuation of the war."
Bustin said that city-wide antiwar demonstrations were slated in Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., for Feb. 10. Actions are also scheduled for that date in New York; New Haven, Conn.; Boston; Cleveland; and other cities.
February 16, 1946
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 28 - In defiance of court orders
limiting pickets, 3,000 AFL and CIO unionists massed before
the scab-operated Bethlehem Alameda shipyard this morning and
closed it tight. The action was the most inspiring show of
labor solidarity this area has seen since the days of the
great strikes in the '30's.
CIO Steelworkers Machinists Local 1304 has been on strike for the past three months. During this period Bethlehem with the aid of court orders and fully equipped riot squads has continued minor operations with scab labor. The situation had become a serious threat to the closed shop conditions won and maintained during the past decade.
The workers were in full agreement with Joe Roberts, business agent of AFL Shipfitters Local 9, when he announced over the union loudspeaker: "Unless this yard is closed 100 per cent there will be a rapid spread of open shops in the Bay area."
The scene fairly bristled with cops. Forty-five Alameda police, backed by 15 members of the riot squad armed with clubs and tear gas, stood ready to carry out the strikebreaking orders of the bosses. Police of seven other cities of Alameda County were prepared to "move in" on the strike scene. Nearby Oakland held 100 fully equipped riot squad thugs in readiness. State highway patrolmen were also "alerted." This was accomplished through the county sheriffs' "mutual aid" organization.