Today in History, July 27th

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/history/07/27




Canadian labor organizer Ginger Goodwin

United Mine Workers organizer Ginger Goodwin was shot by a hired private policeman outside Cumberland, British Columbia. He played an important role in the big coal strike that began in 1912 on Vancouver Island. After the strike ended, he traveled around the region giving fiery speeches to groups of workers. He spoke out against World War I and the poor working conditions for many Canadians, and advocated the overthrow of capitalism.

Goodwin also wrote frequently for socialist publications. "Now, then, we know that all this misery is the outcome of someone's carelessness, and that someone is the capitalists, those who own the machinery of production," he wrote. "Now, as this class of parasites have been living on the blood of the working class, they are responsible for the conditions existing at the present time."

Goodwin became an officer of the Trail Mill & Smeltermen's Union and led actions, including wildcat strikes, by smelter workers in the lead and zinc industries.

He and other union activists resisted being drafted into the military; he was hiding out when he was shot to death. No one was ever prosecuted for his murder.