1946 Oakland General Strike Walk

Every July day has Laborfest events, some of which are missing from the red letter listings. This "al fresco" textbook for all of us will teach the importance of a general strike which we need to put an end to the profit motive that is the cause of the budget "crisis" and war. On July 25 at 10:30 a.m. in Oakland, the Labor Studies Program at Laney College and the Flying Picket Historical Society lead a free tour of the sites of the 1946 Oakland General Strike.

July 25 (Saturday) 10:30 AM (Free)
Meet at the fountain in Latham Square at Telegraph and Broadway, Oakland, the intersection where Telegraph and Broadway converge across from the Rotunda Building (Oakland City Center/12th St. BART).

Oakland 1946 General Strike Walk
With Karin Hart of the Labor Studies Program at Laney College and Gifford Hartman of the Flying Picket Historical Society. This walk will revisit the sites of Oakland’s “Work Holiday” that began spontaneously with rank-and-file solidarity with the striking mostly female­ retail clerks at Kahn’s and Hastings department store whose picket line was being broken by police scab herding. Within 24 hours, it involved over 100,000 workers and shut down nearly all commerce in the East Bay for 54 hours. In 1946 there were six general strikes across the U.S.; that year set the all-time record year for strikes and work stoppages. The Oakland “Work Holiday” was the last general strike to ever occur in the U.S. and the walk and history talk will attempt to keep alive the memory of this tradition of community-wide working class solidarity. This is a free event.
Sponsored by Laney College Labor Studies and the Flying Picket Historical Society.
See also:
http://www.FlyingPicket.org
http://laney.peralta.edu/apps/comm.asp?Q=30153
http://www.laborfest.net/2009schedule.htm