Vol. 71/No. 47      December 17, 2007

In the face of this massive display of solidarity, the military regime made no move to break the strike called by all three of the country’s labor federations.

On top of the worsening economic situation, there have been recent discoveries of mass graves of missing persons.  
 
December 16, 1957
New York, Dec. 11—The men who drive New York’s subway trains have gone on a strike which has slowed the transit system to a crawl and at the same time captured the imagination of the city’s working class.

The strike by the Motormen’s Benevolent Association, which claims a membership of 2,600 of the subway’s 3,167 train engineers, is unique in a number of ways. The officials are working motormen. It is extremely militant. It is the only union to call a subway strike in 30 years.

At one o’clock in the morning, four hours before the strike deadline, four leaders of the MBA were dragged to a judge’s home for sentencing to ten days in jail for violating the no-strike injunction.  
 
December 17, 1932
While the police of Washington were terrorizing the National Hunger Marchers who had come to the opening session of Congress to demand immediate relief and unemployment insurance, Hoover delivered his message to Congress. The message called for greater support for the bankers and a greater struggle against the workers. The highlights of the Hoover message called for: reorganization of the banking system for the bankers; greater centralization of the governmental apparatus in the interests of the imperialists. An 11 percent wage cut for the Federal employees; a cut for the Veteran Fund; reduction of government building and expense; and a sales tax to shift a greater share of the tax burden to the workers and the middle class.  
 
 
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