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The First Strike By A Public Employees Union

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September 9, 1919 marked a major turning point in the American labor movement: the Boston Police went on strike. It was the first ever strike by a public employees union.

We visit two of the most important sites of the 1919 Police Strike: a pub in the South End and the old Armory on Arlington Street, downtown.

Guest

James Green, professor of history and labor studies at University of Massachusetts Boston.

This is a rebroadcast of a conversation originally aired back in 2011, amid the ongoing battle between Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the state's public employee unions. James Green passed away in June 2016, from complications of leukemia. He was 71.

This segment aired on September 5, 2016.

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