September 6, 1974
James P. Cannon died of a heart attack August 21 at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 84.

Cannon was the foremost leader of the American revolutionary socialist movement and was at the time of his death National Chairman Emeritus of the Socialist Workers Party. His experience spanned more than six decades of participation in the class struggle. Cannon was also a central leader of the world Trotskyist movement.

Jim Cannon's death came as 1,250 socialists were participating in the 1974 Socialist Activists and Educational Conference, a week-long gathering held in Oberlin, Ohio. The conference, consisting of more than 80 different lectures, panel discussions, and workshops, was sponsored by the Young Socialist Alliance with the participation of the Socialist Workers Party.

The response by the conference to Cannon's death was in the revolutionary tradition. The "Political Tribute to Jim Cannon" held August 23 launched a major campaign to move forward the struggle to build the revolutionary party to which Cannon devoted his life. Participants contributed or pledged more than $50,000 for this effort. This was by far the largest outpouring of financial support at one meeting in the history of the revolutionary socialist movement.

August 29, 1949
DETROIT, Aug. 22 - The largest and longest unauthorized strike to hit the auto plants here in a long time ended this morning with the return to work of 18,000 Chrysler workers at the Kercheval and Jefferson plants after a five-day walkout. The order to return to work came without any apparent settlement of the discharge dispute which had precipitated the walkout.

The incident which precipitated the strike climaxed many months of increasingly bitter relations between the company and the union. A probationary worker on the night shift was fired for "refusing to work assigned." The torch-solderer group informed the chief steward that if the fired worker was not reinstated by 6:30 p.m. they would refuse to work. At 6:30 p.m. with no progress reported, they quit work. Immediately the line steward was fired for "instigating the work stoppage." As the workers could not be prevailed upon to resume work the entire shift was sent home.

Several thousand day-shift workers voted unanimously to remain home indefinitely until the fired men were back on the job. Sharp warnings to the local leadership not to capitulate to the pressure of the international union were voiced at the meeting. The general mood seemed to prevail that "we have been pushed around by the company long enough. It is time we make a stand."  
 
 
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