Vol. 81/No. 26      July 17, 2017

 

25, 50 and 75 Years Ago

 

July 17, 1992

Facing government intransigence at the negotiating table and a campaign of intimidation involving assassinations and massacres, workers, youth, and rural toilers across South Africa are joining in a sustained series of mass rallies, protest marches and strikes called by the African National Congress.

The country was shut down June 29 as millions observed a day of mourning for some 40 residents of Boipatong township killed in an attack organized by the regime’s security forces.

“We are determined that the minority in this country is not going to dictate to the majority,” [Nelson] Mandela said in response to the South African regime’s insistence that minority veto rights be codified in any new government. The ANC has long fought for majority rule, based on one person, one vote.

July 10, 1967

CLEVELAND — Over 53,000 striking rubber workers across the country are now in their third month of picketing Firestone, Uniroyal, Goodrich and General Tire. Strikers said they were “in too deep now to settle for less than we want.” The companies want a three-year contract while the workers want a one- or two-year contract; and the companies are offering wage increases of a few cents while the workers want a substantial increase of $2 or more.

When asked what they thought about the United Rubber Workers not striking Goodyear Rubber, one man said, “A union means unity, and we should all strike together.”

One striker said he was working on the same machine he had in 1945, but then he had to produce five-and-one-half tires a day, while today he has to put out 13 tires a day.

July 18, 1942

Puerto Rico, U.S. island colony in the Caribbean, came into the limelight July 5 with the report that President Roosevelt had approved a plan under which the island could elect its own governor in 1944 or thereafter.

The promise of the right to elect a governor — remote as it leaves the Puerto Rican people from actual freedom from American imperialism — reflects the growing disturbance of the administration. Roosevelt’s promise is not a sudden spasm of generosity. It does not signify any intention to give up control over Puerto Rico.

Even as Roosevelt made his promise, leaders of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party languished in the Atlanta federal penitentiary with ten year sentences on charges of “sedition” for having advocated independence.  
 
 
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