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| Bill Lewis, Pa. Historical & Museum Comm'n |
Trooper John Moughan, on horseback, fired when he thought he saw someone pull out a revolver. His bullet struck an unarmed Joseph Szambo, a striker who was inside the then Majestic Hotel during the melee. Szambo was enjoying a beer, but it would be his last.
Hours after his death, his wife gave birth.
Trooper Mougham was charged with homicide, but the DA dropped the charges.
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| Marker being unveiled |
Rick Bloomingdale, Pennsylvania's AFL-CIO President, told a group of about forty people that the 1910 Bethlehem Steel strike was not about higher wages, but for a "right to have a say on the job." He argued that judicial decisions, both then and today, are slanted in favor of big corporations. He claimed that before unions, there really was no middle class or single-family homes.
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| LV Labor Council's Greg Potter thanks Mayor Callahan |
According to the Mayor, Szambo's death is significant because "the seeds of the labor movement in this country were sewn right here in this corner."
Callahan, pointing to Amazon in Lehigh County, cautioned that working conditions will always be a struggle, and one that people should remember when they vote in November.
Interestingly, the United Steelworkers Union and its local President, Jerry Greene, were conspicuously absent from a dedication to the labor movement in the steel industry. But Superior Court Judge Jack Panella, along with Congressional candidate Rick Daugherty, were in the audience.
After the marker was unveiled, Frank Behum, President of the Steelworkers' Archives, led everyone in a few union songs. When he finished, he looked up at Szambo's plaque and said, "May he rest in peace."
This is the Steelworker's Archives group. Frank Behum is the bearded gentleman. Dennis Pearson is to his right.
Superior Court Judge Jack Panella was mesmerized by the entire story.
Blogger's Note: My Facebook Photo Album is here.
Updated 10 AM: Michael Molovinsky has a post concerning the Hungarians drawn to Bethlehem by the steel company. Szabo was Hungarian.
The Judge is a damn good man.
ReplyDeleteMany a men before us struggled and paid the ultimate sacrifice for the average working man...
ReplyDeletePray for the dead and fight like hell for the living!
MJ
When will they erect the other monument for the much larger homicide that took place there many years later?
ReplyDeleteYou know, the one where union greed and outrageous demands killed the very company they worked for?
It would appear that with a single monument we're only getting half the story.
Union slugs are absent where difficult working conditions exist today. Instead they leach at the government trough where the butter it thick and flows endlessly.
ReplyDeleteDo you want to hear about the strike of 1942 which led to the
ReplyDelete1st certified United Steelworkers of America Union at the Bethlehem Plant.
There were good solid reasons why the men in the midst of war chose to take a stand about working conditions and whatever.
The fact is, unions exist to protect the good and welfare of their fellow union brothers. Without unions there is no protection against employer abuse especially in large corporations. Without Unions, employees in today's non union shops would be treated much worse especially if there weren't government laws to protect them.
Indeed an employer can expect every employee to give him a solid day performane on the job. But the employer must night abuse his status by turning a freeman to serfdom status and even worse, a contract slave.
Do you want to hear about the strike of 1942 which led to the
ReplyDelete1st certified United Steelworkers of America Union at the Bethlehem Plant.
There were good solid reasons why the men in the midst of war chose to take a stand about working conditions and whatever.
The fact is, unions exist to protect the good and welfare of their fellow union brothers. Without unions there is no protection against employer abuse especially in large corporations. Without Unions, employees in today's non union shops would be treated much worse especially if there weren't government laws to protect them.
Indeed an employer can expect every employee to give him a solid day performane on the job. But the employer must not abuse his status by turning a freeman to serfdom status and even worse, a contract slave.
8:19 AM
Yes, the union protected its brothers well at Bethlehem Steel, to the point that in Bethlehem today, no union worker has to fear injury or other wrongdoing from the company.
ReplyDeleteHey union haters. Go enjoy your weekend off on this 3 day weekend. Nuff said
ReplyDeleteBernie
ReplyDeleteThank you for covering this local history story. Were members of the slain steelworker present?
I'm hoping that all parts of him were properly buried after the funeral service 102 years ago.
DeleteI think 9:38 was asking if members of the slain steelworker's family were present. So far as I know, no. I wonder whether he has any living descendants.
ReplyDeleteThey were trying to check on that but they had no luck finding them..
ReplyDeleteUnions are such Victims.
ReplyDeleteSounds like another bailout in the billons, perhaps even trillions, is needed.
Hurry! Quick! Make haste!
Before THIS Crisis turns into ANOTHER Catastrophe!!!
(this message is proudly brought to you by --- JIMMY "It's Time To Take The Sons of Bitches Out" HOFFA, JR.)
Today, that cop (and perhaps the state representative), would have holstered his weapon and joined Mr. Szambo at the bar.
ReplyDeleteNo one can argue that labor's organization was not essential to the establishment of fair wages, workplace safety and the establishment of the middle class. Likewise, no one can argue that today's public trough feeders and the worst private sector examples have not bastardized and pissed upon most of what those hardworking pioneers sacrificed and stood for. The old saying "Two wrongs don't make a right" applies here.
My take is that Mr. Szambo and his "brothers" would not have participated in the killing of the golden goose.
Nonetheless, private-sector organized labor has a purpose, even today. If we could only do away with prevailing wage laws, keep them (and corporations, too) from buying elections, and ensure that not a single public dollar goes to bailing out union-ravaged companies, most people would probably support labor's right to organize and play chicken with their golden goose.
Btw - The judge should not have been at that event. Unions are political machines more than anything else these days. It may be legal for him to be there but it was bad form, at best.
-Clem
Bernie, thank you for covering the event yesterday. One correction, Szambo was not in the bar drinking. He was there getting a glass of wine for his pregnant wife, in order to soothe her upset stomach. She gave birth about four hours after Joseph Szambo was murdered. The trial of the state policeman was a farce at best, and makes the Dr. Sam Sheppard case look like a lesson in judicial protocol. We are grateful that Judge Panella came at my invitation. He is a gentleman, and understands the history that occurred. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that anti-union politicans like Callahan and O'Hare play up th event. O(f course Callahan is hunting votes and O'Hare is now his propaganda guy. Both are known to hate unions and are more in agreement with the ignorant teabaggers on the idea that unions are not necessary.
ReplyDeleteThey beleive that all employers are wondwerful loving people who left to theit own devioces will make sure the workplace is a "workers paradise".
You know, the same thinking that was prevelent in the earlt 1900's.
The Labor Day holiday has nothing to do with organized labor and everything to do with politicians who traded a government workers' day off for votes.
ReplyDeleteUnions are worthless whores on the dole from government. Unions used to represent the little guy. Now, their just like welfare recipients with their hands out in exchange for reliable Democrackhead votes.
Today's unions are nothing like their forerunners. Today's unions leeches that represent everything that's wrong with this country. Fuck off worthless shitheads. Kill each other on the job. It will be addition by subtraction and a benefit to society at large.
they're **
ReplyDelete". One correction, Szambo was not in the bar drinking. He was there getting a glass of wine for his pregnant wife, in order to soothe her upset stomach. She gave birth about four hours after Joseph Szambo was murdered"
ReplyDeleteGregg, This is correct. I read that he also stopped to get a glass of beer while waiting. He apparently was at the bar when shot. I read thru a lot of the material on the web about this incident, but do not have the benefit of attending the educational lecture that preceded yesterday's dedication. I bow to your superior knowledge on this point.
Clem,
ReplyDeleteI thought about whether Judge Panella should be there. My conclusion is that it might have been inappropriate for Mayor Callahan to talk about voting for the right people in November. One other speaker got political, too. But the event itself is commemoration of history. It involves not just unions, but a homicide and subsequent trial. Judge Panella was drawn by that, and I know this bc he told me. In fact, he was absolutely amazed by the story. So as I reflect on it, I'm glad he attended what really was a historical commemoration. It's why he's such a damn good judge. Under your thinking, a judge would not be able to go to church for fear that some preacher would start getting political.
I am Jesus Chris, O'Hare. That is true becasue I told you.
ReplyDeleteYou are right Bernie, this was a historic remembrance not a political event.
ReplyDeleteBethlehem Steel at the time operated on only two shifts of 12 hours each ... There was a double shift of 24 hours when the shifts changed/
Even then men wanted time to enjoy their families, to enjoy some exercize and to worship their faith.
In other words they wanted some freedom. Who in this audience is against this?
No question that private sector unions, even now, are necessary.
ReplyDeleteWrong about the judge. He totally gets both the historical AND the political significance of the union movement in America.
ReplyDeleteIf you are fortunate enough to know this good man ask him about his father.
And wrong about the event. It's a historical and political moment.
Hate unions and what they stand for and fought and died for ------- move to Mississippi asshole. You'll love it there.
ReplyDeleteI know the story about Judge Panella's father, and actually posted it here. Judge Panella is a strong believer in the right to organize. But he's also a judge, and would never have attended the event had it been strictly political. He is something of a scholar, and has written a number of bench books. I am sure the history of this event is what really appealed to him.
ReplyDeleteLabor Day has nothing to do with labor. It's a bank holiday. Labor has never been populated with the smartest individuals. They shouldn't be expected to know. They just answer the dog whistle.
ReplyDeleteAn anon 12:33, once again displays the wisdom of the teabgger movement.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteDid Rep. Simmons attend this event?
The event wasn't "strictly political". The Judge is not a party hack or a fool.
ReplyDeleteHis support of labor isn't in the interest of small p partisan politics.
Support of the legacy and principles of the labor movent is support of policies and politics that advance the interests,dignity,rights and aspirations of the comman man and women. The political support of the large majority of citizens who go off to work to support their families. People whose fate is often controlled by the interests of big money,Wall St,the Bane Capitals of the world.