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Vol. 73/No. 24      June 22, 2009

 
25, 50 and 75 years ago
 
June 22, 1984
NEW ORLEANS—Naked, unvarnished terror. That’s the only way to describe one Black family’s experience in this city. Two men dressed in the uniform of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Department knocked on the door of 64-year-old Margaret Clements this past May 17. What followed was “like a nightmare” according to Clements.

One daughter, Jule Cobb, 36, answered the door downstairs. Another daughter, Sheila Green, 32, recognized one of the deputies and also went down.

The deputies showed up because Cobb owed $12.50 for a traffic violation. For this they said she was going to jail! Cobb turned to get her wallet, which her mother was handing to her on the stairway. The deputies then suddenly turned on Green, kicking and punching her at the bottom of the stairwell. Each cop then grabbed an arm and started ramming her head into the wall.  
 
June 22, 1959
Top officials of the United Steelworkers of America said “No” to a corporation proposal for contract changes weakening the union inside the plants. The proposal, made by a negotiating team acting for the 12 major steel companies in the current New York bargaining sessions, implied a wage increase in return for sweeping changes in working rules and other past practices which would “enable management to make operating improvements in the interest of greater efficiency and economy.”

Steelworkers union President David J. McDonald said such changes would “rip the heart and sinews” out of the union. The proposals would eliminate much of the in-plant union control over work schedules, seniority, speed-up, etc. They would give the management more power to control work stoppages and establish incentive systems.  
 
June 23, 1934
After the first year of the New Deal the American farmers are beginning to become disillusioned with its “recovery” program. The high prices for farm products which was to follow automatically from an artificially induced economy of curtailment of production has failed to materialize and the farmers find themselves holding the sack.

At the end of 1933 the year’s index showed a gain of only 9 percent over 1932. In July 1933 the purchasing power of the farmers’ dollar had fallen to 71 cents, in January 1934 it was down to 60 cents, while for February it was recorded at 64 cents.

Bad times did not set in for the farmer in 1929 at the time of the general crisis of capitalism but fully ten years earlier. Depression in agriculture set in almost immediately after the world war.  
 
 
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