On this day in Labor History the year was 1887. That was the day of the Thibodaux Massacre, in Louisiana just southwest of New Orleans.
Thousands of African American sugar cane workers had gone out on strike. Before the Civil War, sugar cane, like other southern crops had been harvested by enslaved labor. After the war, planters put laws and practices into place to control and repress the newly freed labor force.
By the late 1880s one of those practices was paying sugar cane workers in scrip. Instead of actual money workers received scrip only redeemable at the planters’ stores. This let planters set the prices for goods and keep their workers in debt.
The Knights of Labor began to organize the bayou sugar workers through their Local Assembly 8404. The union presented the Louisiana Sugar Producers Association, which represented 200 of the largest planters, with a list of demands.
The list included the end of scrip payment and a small wage increase. The planters refused. The union called a strike to begin on November first, during a key time in the sugar harvest.
Outraged planters brought in scabs to replace the strikers and militia troops to protect the scabs. They evicted strikers from their plantation homes. Many evicted black workers made their way to the black section of Thibodaux.
White armed men began to picket around the black neighborhood. Two of these white picketers were fired on by an unknown person.
In retaliation, for more than two hours the vigilantes rained gun fire on black strikers and their families. At least thirty people, and possibly many more were killed. The strike was crushed.
August 23 - The Commission on Industrial Relations
August 22 - Making the Skies Friendlier
August 22 - Making the Skies Friendlier
August 21 - Nat Turner’s Insurrection
August 20 - The War on Poverty
August 19 - Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent
August 18 - WEVD Radio New York
August 17 - Jailed for Having an Idea
August 16 - George Meany is Born
August 15 - The End of Bretton Woods
August 14 - A Little Security for Workers
August 13 - Miners Rebel Against Convict Labor System
August 12 - High Stakes in Cannery Organizing
August 11 - The ILWU is Founded
August 10 - Illinois Brotherhoods Join the ‘22 Shopmen Strike
August 9 - Titan II Fire Kills 53
August 8 - Twin Cities Trades Elect First Black President
August 7 - Love Canal
August 6 - Catastrophic Fire at Chevron
August 5 - Funeral March for Frank Little
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