The Battle for the Streets
Labor unions demand an end to the use of state militias to break strikes, calling the tactic a tool of 'brutal capital.'
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At a meeting of the trade and labor unions of St. Louis held on Saturday, a resolution was adopted calling upon all labor organizations to take action to prevent the calling out of armed state militia to be used for the purpose of forcing American workingmen to comply with the demands of brutal and tyrannical capital. The national assembly of the Knights of Labor also recently favored the practical disorganization of the militia. The purpose of these resolutions is clear: it is a confession that strikes, like those at Homestead, Coeur d'Alene, Buffalo, and New Orleans, cannot succeed if the property of employers and the persons of employees are protected from violence. Public opinion in America can have no sympathy with the use of violence and the illegal destruction of property to force the success of a strike.
“The state is pledged to suppress illegal violence against the persons and property of all men, whether employers or strikers.”
The tension between organized labor and state-sanctioned force remains a fixture of American life. Just as 1893 saw debates over the role of the militia in industrial conflict, Seattle has seen modern protests over the use of police force against demonstrators and labor actions.
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