workingclasshistory:

On this day, 1 June 1906, Mexican workers at the copper mine in Cananea, went on strike and put up picket lines demanding shorter hours and more pay. Mexican workers earn significantly less than workers from the US doing the same jobs, so they demanded a pay increase from 3 to 5 pesos per day, with a 1 peso increase for anyone earning more than the minimum, as well as a shortening of the working day from 10 to 8 hours, and they demanded more opportunities for promotions for Mexicans. A management spokesperson told the assembled strikers they could not agree to any of their demands, due to a government pay cap so the workers began marching towards the lumberyard. The American yard boss turned hoses on the workers, then gunshots rang out and a melee began, leaving three strikers dead, as well as the boss and his brother. The workers retaliated by burning the lumberyard to the ground and headed to the town hall. As the workers marched, carrying their dead, a posse of armed Americans opened fire. An American eyewitness described “a lot of drunken cowboys"… “shot at everything that moved – Chinamen, chickens, Mexicans and gringos.” 20 workers were killed and a further 45 arrested and jailed. The following morning, 200 armed Arizona Rangers from Bisbee arrived by train, and were quickly sworn into the Mexican army. They were joined by more Mexican troops, and martial law was declared. A general told a crowd of miners that any that did not resume work would be drafted into the army and sent to fight Yaqui Indigenous people. The strike was beaten, and two strike leaders were subsequently jailed for 15 years. Although the workers lost this time, outrage about what happened was a huge boost to the revolutionary movement which would soon sweep the country. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1729537530564723/?type=3