On this dam working class history.
The thirteenth of January and on the thirteenth of January nineteen forty eight miners in Cyprus employed by the US owned Cypress Mining Company CMC walked out on strike against inhuman and extremely dangerous conditions. The workers demanded pay increases, overtime pay on Sundays, recognition of a Labour Dispute's committee, repairs to workers homes, and the rehiring of fired workers.
Around four thy three hundred miners, asbestos workers and construction workers both Greek and Turkish, walked out together with the support of most of the local working class, but the British colonial government, the Church, and the SEK Union Federation
were united against the strike. The government sent police against the strikers, while the Church denounced quote communist anarchy end quote, and the SEK attempted to recruit scab replacement workers, claiming quote better twelve hours of blue than eight hours of red end quote, meaning it's better to work twelve hours a day in a right wing place than eight hours a day in a left wing one. On the third of March, police opened fire and striking miners injuring many
in protest at the shootings. A national strike took place on the sixth of March, and workers took to the streets with placards written in Greek and Turkish saying things like bread not bullets and double your contribution to the strikers,
encouraging more donations of money and supplies to the workers. Eventually, the workers were victorious, and they ended up winning more collective agreements being established or strengthened, pay increases, reduced hours paid, overtime paid holidays, safety improvements, better healthcare, and a new system for adjusting pay in line with the cost of living.
The sources maps and all of our anniversaries each day. Check out the on this Day section of our stories at at stories Stopworkingclasshistory dot com, and if you value our work, support us at patreon dot com slash working class history. Links in the show notes the music by Decado. See you tomorrow.