The Anyuan Road Mine workers’ strike begins

After careful planning and preparation, the club issued a strike order to all workers at 0:00 on September 14, 1922. According to the stipulations, workers in the Railway Bureau's train room took the lead in going on strike at 2:00 on the 14th, stopping the first train of the day. Workers in the locomotive office immediately sounded the whistle to send out a strike signal. At 3 o'clock, the mine bureau workers cut off the mine wires and stopped the tram. The underground workers knew that the strike had begun and poured out of the mine like a tide, shouting "Strike! Strike!" At this time, the supervisor at the head of the general alley will write: A big white flag with the word "strike" was erected above the wellhead, and the wellhead was blocked with wood. Only one exit was left for underground workers to go out, and no one was allowed to go down the well. Workers who were supposed to start work at 4 o'clock, after receiving the strike order, all stayed in the accommodation and no longer went to work or went out. Subsequently, all work offices and stations of the Railway Bureau, all ground work offices such as the coal washing station, coking office, and repair shop of the Mining Bureau, as well as Zijiachong Branch Mine, all went on strike one after another. Before noon on the 14th, more than 13,000 workers in the two bureaus of roads and mines went on strike, except for boiler rooms, generators, blowers and water pumps that started as scheduled or partially started as planned.

On the morning of the 14th, the club sent a letter to the Pingxiang County Governor’s Office and the Ganxi Town Sheriff’s Office to explain the reasons for the strike. On the one hand, he sent a letter to the two bureaus of road and mines stating the reasons for the strike and 17 demands. Notice: "If you want to negotiate, please send an official representative to be introduced by the Chamber of Commerce to contact the club representative Liu Shaoqi." He also sent a telegram to Han Yeping Company to announce the strike. At the same time, a "Strike Declaration" was issued to all walks of life (see the appendix of this book). In order to gain support from all walks of life across the country and strengthen the momentum of the strike struggle, the above-mentioned official letters, telegrams and declarations were sent to newspapers across the country that day, and news of the strike struggle was successively reported to the newspapers. Influential newspapers across the country such as Ta Kung Pao and Popular Daily in Changsha, Shenbao and Republic of China Daily in Shanghai, Morning Post and Times in Beijing Kunming successively reported news of the Anyuan strike. Trade unions from all over the country learned of the workers' strike in Anyuan and sent letters and telegrams of support.

After the club issued the strike order, in order to prevent a sudden attack by the authorities, it moved its office location and various important documents according to the established arrangement. Li Lisan was transferred from worker protection to a secret location, and Liu Shaoqi and others were in charge of the club's work. everything. Starting from the early morning of the 14th, the workers' inspection team, holding the club's white flag, patrolled near the factory and in the market to maintain order. The workers' detective team went around secretly to collect information and reported to the club in time. Workers are assigned to their own houses, and one person from each house is sent to the club to contact them. Club notices and slogans were posted everywhere on the walls near markets and factories, with phrases such as "Wait for notice from the club before construction is allowed to start" and "Everyone returns to his own home, no disturbance is allowed." The orders of the club are better than the orders of the military. Workers only obey the orders of the club. When an accident occurs, they respond immediately. Each workplace is closely guarded by worker supervisors, and access must be granted by a club. Even the Roads and Mines Bureau and the Martial Law Headquarters are not required to issue pass badges at the request of the club.

After the strike began, businesses panicked, thinking that a robbery was going to happen. They stopped business and closed their doors before it got dark. After eight or nine o'clock in the evening, there are no pedestrians in the market, only workers' inspection teams and military police patrol. However, the social order was so good that it completely exceeded people's expectations. Due to the strict discipline of the workers' clubs, the strong maintenance of the workers' supervisory team and supervisors, and the success of the fight against the Hong Gang, gambling and robbery have disappeared, and opium dens and brothels have been closed. Even if a small number of idle people occasionally gamble in the market, as long as the workers supervise As soon as the team arrived, they couldn't escape. The power of the workers' unity and their outstanding ability to govern society amazed and admired the road and mine authorities and people from all walks of life. Even the martial law commander had to admit that his army did not have such good discipline.

As soon as the strike began, the road and mine authorities asked the Ganxi garrison office to send troops to suppress it. At 1 o'clock in the afternoon on September 14, the troops sent by the garrison mission arrived in Anyuan, led by a regimental commander. They announced that Anyuan would be classified as a special martial law area and a martial law headquarters would be set up in the official office of the Mining Bureau. The troops were led by Li Hongcheng, the brigade commander of the Gan Army. Served as martial law commander. The Mining Bureau promised to pay two oceans per person per day, and asked the army to occupy the workers' club offices, disperse the worker supervisors at each work station, and force the workers to start work.

When the army arrived at the club, thousands of workers rushed to the club after hearing the news. They rushed into the club risking their lives and spread propaganda to the soldiers, forcing the army away. When the army went to various workplaces to disperse the supervisors, the worker supervisors were among the workers. With support, I will never give up until death. Although some workplaces were guarded by the military, the striking workers strictly obeyed the club's orders and sat firmly in their houses. No one went to work voluntarily. The authorities used force to suppress the strike, but to no avail.

While recruiting troops to suppress the situation, the Mining Bureau ordered Wang Hongqing, the chief engineer of the alleyway, to come forward and collude with a small number of workers who had a close relationship with the foremen and promised them to go into the mines and not work but still be paid as usual, thereby sabotaging the process. strike. But when the co-opted workers went to work, they were tightly blocked by club supervisors and striking workers. Those who forcibly entered the cave were dealt with with force. The few who had already taken advantage of the opportunity to enter the cave were not allowed to come out and were left to starve and sleep underground. It was not until the next day, that is, September 15, 1922, that the club He was ordered to be released and given detailed guidance to make him repent. After that, no one dared to work on their own. The authorities also attempted to defeat the strike by assassinating workers' leaders. Wang Hongqing came forward to reward Dayang 600 yuan and hired martial arts masters to assassinate Li Lisan. Although this plan was extremely secretive, it was quickly detected by the workers. In this regard, the workers publicly declared: "If the director of the club is killed, all employees of the Road and Mine Bureau will not be able to leave Anyuan." At the same time, strict measures were taken to protect the club leaders, who were not allowed to go out alone. Occasionally, he would go out to make contact, and within 20 minutes, hundreds of people would surround the house he entered. They would not stop until the club leader arrived and escorted him to a safe place. In this way, the authorities' murderous methods finally failed.

While using the above methods to suppress and disrupt the strike, the authorities also proposed "start work first and negotiate conditions later" in an attempt to induce the club to order the resumption of work. On the one hand, they strive for the method of soft procrastination in an attempt to make the striking workers collapse and submit due to hunger, sleepiness and exhaustion. This cunning scheme has been shattered time and again by the concerted efforts of the workers. On the morning of September 16, 1922, the authorities and the martial law commander invited Liu Shaoqi to the martial law headquarters in the name of inviting workers' representatives to "discuss solutions." They used force to force Liu Shaoqi to order the resumption of work. Liu Shaoqi flatly refused and sternly refuted it. After hearing the news, workers from all over the country rushed to protect Liu Shaoqi. Thousands of workers surrounded the official office of the Mining Bureau where the martial law headquarters is located. They made a thunderous noise and shouted: "Please come out to the representatives of the club. If you have any questions, please ask the mine director and brigade commander to come to the club to discuss!" "Who dares to touch Representative Liu?" If there is even a hair, we will kill all the members of the Lu and Mine Bureaus, so that all the employees of the Lu and Mine Bureaus will not be able to leave Anyuan!" Upon seeing this, the authorities did not dare to harm Liu Shaoqi. After this attempt to force a resumption of work was thwarted, the authorities were finally forced to send plenipotentiaries to negotiate with the club. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon on September 17, the plenipotentiary representatives of the Road and Mine Bureau and the club's plenipotentiary representative Liu Shaoqi began negotiations. Representatives of local business gentry attended the mediation. After intense debate and negotiation, it was not until 2 a.m. on the 18th that 13 articles of the draft agreement were signed. On the morning of the 18th, representatives of the three parties formally signed the agreement based on the draft agreement. At this point, the strike was a complete victory.