25, 50 and 75 Years Ago

October 12, 2020

October 16, 1995

WARREN, Ohio — Failing to break the resolve of steelworkers on the picket line here, bosses at Warren Consolidated Industries announced September 29 it would temporarily suspend production. This is a major setback to the company’s efforts to run the mill with scab labor.

WCI’s announcement came after escalating violence by company goons increased workers determination to stand up and fight. The violence itself was an indication of the increasingly desperate situation of the company, as its attempt to bust the unions have faltered.

Solid unity and the overwhelming support steelworkers have received in this highly unionized industrial town forced the company to retreat from its assault on the union. The WCI bosses have been taken aback by the unexpectedly strong resistance they have gotten from the workers and their supporters.

October 16, 1970

NEW YORK— Four rat-infested, overcrowded municipal jails, their cells jammed with Black and Puerto Rican inmates most of whom are awaiting trial, became the setting last week for a full-fledged prison revolt as several thousand embittered prisoners seized hostages and laid down demands for lower bails, speedier trials and an end to intolerable conditions.

The rebellion erupted in the Long Island City branch of Queens House of Detention Oct. 1 and spread like a chain-reaction to jails in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Rikers Island.

Three thousand community residents demonstrated at the Brooklyn jail Oct. 3 and it was clear that large segments of the community sympathized with their brothers inside. Some 80 percent of the residents of New York’s massive jail system are Black or Puerto Rican.

October 13, 1945

The drive of Allied imperialism to crush the rising colonial movement for independence in the Far East continued on the two fronts of Indo-China and Java. In both lands the imperialists sought a “truce” with nationalist forces.

In Java, the British made four landings at Batavia. Some 1,700 liberated Dutch prisoners of war have been armed. Another 10,000 Dutch troops are now en route from “Europe and America.” Dutch officials are shipping 43,000 troops for action against the Indonesian nationalists.

The picture in Indo-China is essentially the same. A “truce” was negotiated with the Annamese nationalists. Before the “truce” was reached, the British in Saigon, using mortars, machine-guns and rifles drove the Annamese from the outskirts of the city. Two French battleships arrived at Saigon October 3.