25, 50 and 75 Years Ago

August 5, 2019

August 8, 1994

ST. PAUL, Minnesota — Some 1,200 United Transportation Union members, joined by more than 3,000 fellow rail unionists honoring picket lines, have shut down the ninth-largest U.S. rail carrier — Canadian Pacific. Workers struck July 13 when four years of negotiations finally collapsed after a 30-day “cooling off” period ended.

Up to 95 percent of the CP’s rail traffic was initially halted on more than 5,000 miles of track in 11 Midwestern states. Teamster-organized truck drivers refused to deliver batteries and other parts when they were approached by union pickets, who urged them to honor their lines here.

At stake in the strike are the jobs of hundreds of UTU members that will disappear if the rail barons are successful in reducing current two-person road freight and yard switching crews to a single worker, along with an engineer.

August 8, 1969

There are currently 3,500 more troops in Vietnam than there were when Johnson left office seven months ago. The figures make clear, “President Nixon’s plans to withdraw troops from Vietnam aren’t getting anywhere at the moment.”

A July 27 Chicago News dispatch noted, “There are now 535,500 uniformed U.S. military personnel in Vietnam. Pentagon officials explain that the routine troop replacement program for Vietnam sent as many men over as have been removed in seven weeks. It has been hard to make adjustments to bring the total drop in the number they say.”

The reduction in the last seven weeks is approximately equal to the number of American soldiers killed in the same period. Perhaps the Nixon administration does have a plan for reducing troop strength in Vietnam, even if it isn’t the one they announced to the American people.

August 5, 1944

German imperialism’s uninterrupted military successes during the first period of the war have now been turned into a nightmare of defeats, retreats, and catastrophes. Hitler set about to conquer the Soviet Union for German and world capitalism. He now sees the borders of East Prussia invaded by the Red Army. Despite the degenerating influence of Stalin’s counter-revolutionary policies, the Red Army has found sufficient resources within the economy nationalized by the October Revolution and in devotion and sacrifices of the Soviet toilers to drive the Nazis from Soviet territory and to deal blows to their military machine. 

The Nazi gang is showing extreme concern over the rebellious mood of the workers. The Nazi Labor Front has been dragooning workers into mass meetings where functionaries are exhorting them to squeeze out more production.