With a potential big strike across film and television on the horizon, now is a great time to remember the 1941 Disney animators’ strike — and the absolute best-looking picket signs in US labor history. Enjoy. So many good ones here:

• “I’d rather be a dog than a scab.”
• “There are no strings on me.”
• “Put a union button on Mickey Mouse.”
• “Happy Valley isn’t happy anymore.”
• “I’ve got a bone to pick with Walt.”

Hey before we move on from that ship in the Suez Canal, can we talk about “flags of convenience” real quick? 🧵 Ever Given is one of the largest container ships in the world, with a capacity of more than 20,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs); that’s the same as 10,000 of the more common 40’ steel containers you see on trucks and trains criss-crossing the country.

I’d be happy to. Prior to 1934, West Coast longshoremen (ie. dockworkers, those of us who load and unload ships) were hired through a daily routine known as the “shape-up” — “the most despised symbol of the longshoremen’s oppression.” 🧵

https://twitter.com/markjonesjr/status/1346411537465040896

The shape-up was systemic throughout the maritime world, from SF to Boston, London and Durban, going back to at least the 1860s. It carried on elsewhere, but was finally eradicated here with the 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike, one of the most important strikes in US history.

Hi I’m a longshoreman. It’s one of those quintessential tough guy, blue collar jobs and, just like coal miners, people died fighting for our union.

Our motto is “an injury to one is an injury to all” because all workers deserve a union.

Don’t listen to this dipshit. Organize.

https://twitter.com/micsolana/status/1346142918600437760

Unblock me you coward