Our goal is to feed hungry
people. We require
absolutely nothing from our
friends that come to eat with
us
You will find the following
at our serves:
-Vegetarian meals
-Beverages
-Toiletries/medication/etc.
-Harm reduction
Who we are
We are a Pan-Left group
that believes food is a right
not a privilege
We are a non-profit grass-
roots organization
We believe in solidarity
not charity. We require no
beliefs, backgrounds, or
acceptance of any of our
beliefs
Come as you are.
NEW S
VOL.3
Local Labor History
by Annimosity
As we begin to see a growing resurgence of the labor movement,
it is imperative to stay in touch with the rich, local history we
have in Canton, Ohio for the same struggle. In 1937, US Steel
(“Big Steel”) signed a major collective bargaining agreement
with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) which
won workers a standardized pay scale, 8-hour work days, and
time-and-a-half for overtime hours. However, comparatively
smaller steel corporations categorically called “Little Steel”
including Republic Steel, refused to commit to the agreement
or recognize the union. On May 20th, Massillon workers were
locked out of the workplace beginning a months-long, violent
strike involving more than 28,000 strikers across Ohio; a
struggle that resulted in the deaths of at least 16 workers, four
of which were workers from Canton and Massillon. Republic
Steel hired a private guard detail, colluded with ofcials and
union-busters, stocked tear gas and submachine guns, and
used these resources against their own workers. On June 30th,
1937, a Spanish immigrant living in Canton and worker for
Republic Steel, Crisanto Lopez, was bludgeoned on the head
to death by company guardsmen who left him for dead. The
county coroner would rule his cause of death as a heart attack.
Crisanto Lopez had been involved in previous collective action
against workplace harassment at United Alloy Steel in Canton
in 1918. Less than two weeks after Lopez’s murder, police,
anti-union vigilantes, and Republic Steel’s private guard led
a violent confrontation at the Massillon union hall. On July
11, 1937 they used tear gas and submachine guns, unloading
several hundred bullets and ransacking the union hall.
This attack caused the deaths of Spanish immigrant striker
Fulgenico Calzada from a gunshot wound in the back of the
head; Grecian immigrant striker Nicholas Vathiaz (or Vadios
or Valdas) from a pelvic gunshot wound; and Hungarian
immigrant striker Loghin Oroz who died a week later from
tear gas inhalation (the same Stark county coroner would rule
his death a result of heart failure as well and not connected to
the attack). These local workers, who undoubtedly struggled
against not only nativist
attitudes of the time
but literal class warfare,
deserve recognition for
the price they paid for
the labor struggle of the
working class. The Little
Steel Strike of 1937 did
not immediately result
in the workers achieving
their demands, but it laid
the foundation for the
industry to immediately
accept the unionization
when another strike
was rumored during the
wartime effort several
years later, fearing
another protracted and
costly conict. As workers of today continue to organize and
struggle for their rights, we can see the value in the words of
Utah Phillips, “the long memory is the most radical idea in
this country.”
References and Further Reading
McPherson, Donald S. “The “Little Steel” Strike of 1937 in Johnstown,
Pennsylvania.” Pennsylvania History (1972): 219-238.
Steuben, John. Strike Strategy. New York: Gaer Associates, Inc, 1950.
White, Ahmed. The Last Great Strike: Little Steel, The CIO, and The
Struggle For Labor Rights in New Deal America. University of California
Press, 2016.
6/7/2023
Untitled - Crossword Labs
https://crosswordlabs.com/view/2023-06-07-649
1/1
Untitled
Across
2. ____ is entitled to all it creates
3. a line to never cross
6. type of property still retained by the individual
in socialism and communism
8. ____ action gets the goods
10. from each according to ____, to each
according to need
11. mutual support among individuals with
common interest
12. Workers of the world, ___!
Down
1. freely given agreement
4. violation of an individual's free will with threats
5. enactment of a theory
7. name of the gay bar where 1969 riots
galvanized the Gay Liberation movement
9. The Little Steel ___ of 1937 which took the
lives of 4 Stark county strikers
1
2
3 4 5
6 7
8
9
10
11
12
Across
2. ____ is entitled to all it
creates
3. a line to never cross
6. type of property still retained
by the individual in socialism
and communism
8. ____ action gets the goods
10. from each according to ____,
to each according to need
11. mutual support among
individuals with common
interest
12. Workers of the world, ___!
Down
1. freely given agreement
4. violation of an individual’s
free will with threats 5.
enactment of a theory
7. name of the gay bar where
1969 riots galvanized the Gay
Liberation movement
9. The Little Steel ___ of 1937
which took the lives of 4 Stark
county strikers
ACROSS
: 2. Labor; 3. Picket; 6. Personal; 8. Direct; 10. Ability; 11.
Solida rity.
DOWN
: 1. Consent; 4. Coercion; 5. Praxis; 7. Stonewall; 9. Strike
Let’s Focus on the
Barrel Makers
by Les Greves
If you are a follower of current events, you are constantly
bombarded with fear. Stories abound of terrible people doing
terrible things. While the intent of this writing is not to excuse
the unethical behavior of citizens, a closer examination of
these predicaments may reveal a different explanation of
what is really happening in our society.
Oftentimes, problems in our society are relegated to a “few
bad apples.” Whether it be the “radicalized mass shooter,”
the “racist cop,” or the “lazy young person,” the problems
are only examined at the individual level. Society is quick
to blame the individual. Although individuals may have free
will, to ignore the systems under which individuals operate is
giving us all an incomplete picture of the situation.
Instead of only blaming the “bad apple,” we should examine
the barrel in which that apple was stored. Bad barrels foster
bad apples
1
. The bad barrel led the mass shooter to nd
belonging somewhere, even if that was with a radicalized
online group. The bad barrel is the militarized state (domestic
police force spending in the United States is the third highest
in the world behind the U.S. Military and China); young
people are trained to kill “the other” overseas and then are
expected to come home and easily transition to work for their
local police force
2
. The bad barrel has permitted CEOs to be
paid 399 times what their average employee makes (in 1965,
it was only 20 times more); people want to work, but want
1 PhillipZimbardo.(2008).TheLuciferEect:Understanding
HowGoodPeopleTurnEvil.NewYork:RandomHouse.
2 SecurityPolicyReformInstute.(2020).“BeyondRepair:
Dismantlingthe1033Program.”hps://www.securityreform.org
commentary/use-foreign-policy-to-demilitarize-the-police
a living wage to do the work
3
. We can no longer afford to
examine the apples without critiquing the barrels in which
those apples are stored.
Who wants us to remain divided, focusing on individual
actors while ignoring systemic oppression? Why, the barrel
makers, of course! If we evaluate the barrel, we question the
authority of the barrel makers, and their attempt to alienate
us from ourselves, from each other, and from our humanity
4
.
I urge all of us to put aside our differences - race, gender, sexual
orientation, age, ability, political afliation, religious beliefs -
and reconnect with our humanity. I am not dismissing the
real effects people experience as a result of these differences,
but these effects will only abate when we turn our energies
toward ghting the barrel makers instead of ghting with
one another.
3 EconomicPolicyInstute.(2022).“Americanrescue,
infrastructure,andinaon-reduconactsarebig
stepsinrightdirecon.”hps://les.epi.org/uploads/255893.pdf
4 KarlMarx.(1964).EconomicandPhilosophicManuscripts
of1844.NewYorkCity:InternaonalPublishers.
Location: Canton 4th and Rex
summer hours: Saturdays 4:00-5:30pm
Winter Hours: Saturdays 3;00-4;30pm
Contact Us
Facebook: CantonFNB
Instagram: CantonFNB
Website: www.cantonfnb.com
Support Us
Cash App: $CantonFNB
