The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.34           September 30, 1996 
 
 
25 & 50 Years Ago  

October 1, 1971
Sept. 21 - Thousands of people all over the U.S. have joined in demonstrations and meetings organized in response to the brutal murders committed at Attica by the government. More actions are planned in many areas.

Over 4,000 persons took part in two separate actions in New York city Sept. 18 - a march and rally in Harlem of over 3,000 and a march from Union Square in Lower Manhattan to Rockefeller Plaza of over 1,000.

Actions occurred on many campuses in Upstate New York, including Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo and Syracuse. The largest actions were in Buffalo where up to 4,000 demonstrated on the University of Buffalo campus.

In San Francisco, 200 persons demonstrated in protest of George Jackson's murder and the Attica Massacre Sept. 17. Among the speakers at the protest were Philip Ryan, an attorney for the Soledad Brothers; Inez Williams, Fleeta Drumgo's mother; "Popeye" Jackson of the United Prisoners Union (UPU); and Jeff Berchenko, SWP candidate for Board of Supervisors.

In Los Angeles, an Ad Hoc Committee on Prisons and Political Prisoners, including the Angela Davis Defense Committee and the Harriet Tubman bookstore, held a demonstration of 300 at the L.A. federal court building Sept. 14.

About 50 students from Florida State University picketed the Federal Correctional Institute in Tallahassee Sept. 19 supporting the Attica prisoners' demands.

Four hundred people demonstrated outside the JFK Building in Boston on Sept. 15 at a rally called by PCPJ [People's Coalition for Peace and Justice].

September 28, 1946
The victory of the striking Japanese seamen over the puppet government last week was a triumph for the entire Japanese labor movement. The 10-day-old strike, involving more than 100,000 workers, was settled on Sept. 20, only after the seamen won all of their major demands.

According to an AP dispatch, the Civilian Merchant Marine Committee conceded: "No discharges until after a joint council settles the question: union participation in personnel questions; wage increases averaging 35 per cent for all earning less than 550 yen ($33) a month, plus living allowance, insurance and fund for `cultural activities.'"

Three days before the strike was settled, according to a Tokyo dispatch in the Sept. 17 Christian Science Monitor, "American crews aboard Liberty ships in Yokohama, where some 70 Japanese vessels are strikebound, are sympathizing with Japanese strikers and in some cases have shown a willingness to join in the strike."

The seamen's strike, which began on Sept. 10, spread rapidly to include almost 1,000,000 workers, a third of the organized labor force, and included the major affiliates of the Japanese CIO and the organized farmhands.  
 
 
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