"Sabotage" by E.G.Flynn, 1917 (🤖)
@sabotage1917.bsky.social
A BBDQ bot, posting (in order) through the historical essay "Sabotage: The Conscious Withdrawal of The Workers' Industrial Efficiency" by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, published 1917, one small chunk per day.
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And so my final justification of sabotage is its constant use by the worker.
December 10, 2025 at 2:00 PM
And so my final justification of sabotage is its constant use by the worker.
And so in the end democrats, republicans, socialists, all I. W. W.'s in the committee voted that speeches on sabotage were to be permitted, because it was ridiculous not to say on the platform what they were already doing in the shop.
December 9, 2025 at 2:00 PM
And so in the end democrats, republicans, socialists, all I. W. W.'s in the committee voted that speeches on sabotage were to be permitted, because it was ridiculous not to say on the platform what they were already doing in the shop.
As we went down the line, one member of the executive committee after another admitted they had used this thing but they "didn't know that was what you called it!"
December 8, 2025 at 2:00 PM
As we went down the line, one member of the executive committee after another admitted they had used this thing but they "didn't know that was what you called it!"
"...or when they were supposed to be mixing blue we saw to it that they put in green. And soon they realized that scabbing was a very unprofitable business. And the next strike we had, they lined up with us. I don't know whether you call that sabotage, but it works."
December 7, 2025 at 2:00 PM
"...or when they were supposed to be mixing blue we saw to it that they put in green. And soon they realized that scabbing was a very unprofitable business. And the next strike we had, they lined up with us. I don't know whether you call that sabotage, but it works."
Another said, "I was in the strike of the dyers eleven years ago and we lost. We went back to work and we had these scabs that had broken our strike working side by side with us. We were pretty sore. So whenever they were supposed to be mixing green we saw to it that they put in red,..."
December 6, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Another said, "I was in the strike of the dyers eleven years ago and we lost. We went back to work and we had these scabs that had broken our strike working side by side with us. We were pretty sore. So whenever they were supposed to be mixing green we saw to it that they put in red,..."
"...I know once in a while when I want a half-day off and they won't give it to me I slip the belt off the machine so it won't run and I get my half-day. I don't know whether you call that sabotage, but that's what I do."
December 5, 2025 at 2:00 PM
"...I know once in a while when I want a half-day off and they won't give it to me I slip the belt off the machine so it won't run and I get my half-day. I don't know whether you call that sabotage, but that's what I do."
One worker said, "I never heard of this thing called sabotage before Mr. Boyd spoke about it on the platform..."
December 4, 2025 at 2:00 PM
One worker said, "I never heard of this thing called sabotage before Mr. Boyd spoke about it on the platform..."
So they had a rather tolerant spirit and they were not inclined to accept this socialist denunciation of sabotage right off the reel. They had an executive session and threshed it out and this is what occured.
December 3, 2025 at 2:00 PM
So they had a rather tolerant spirit and they were not inclined to accept this socialist denunciation of sabotage right off the reel. They had an executive session and threshed it out and this is what occured.
And we tried to make the strikers realize. "You have sufficient intelligence to select for yourselves. If you haven't got that, then no censorship over your meetings is going to do you any good."
December 2, 2025 at 2:00 PM
And we tried to make the strikers realize. "You have sufficient intelligence to select for yourselves. If you haven't got that, then no censorship over your meetings is going to do you any good."
We had tried to instill into the strikers the idea that any kind of speech was to be permitted; that a socialist or a minister or a priest; an I. W. W. man, an anarchist, anybody should have the platform.
December 1, 2025 at 2:00 PM
We had tried to instill into the strikers the idea that any kind of speech was to be permitted; that a socialist or a minister or a priest; an I. W. W. man, an anarchist, anybody should have the platform.
That precipitated the discussion into the strike commitee as to whether speeches on sabotage were to be permitted.
November 30, 2025 at 2:00 PM
That precipitated the discussion into the strike commitee as to whether speeches on sabotage were to be permitted.
When the Boyd speech was made in Paterson, immediately some of the socialists rushed to the newspapers to protest. They called the attention of the authorities to the fact that the speech was made. The secretary of the socialist party and the organizer of the socialist party repudiated Boyd.
November 29, 2025 at 2:00 PM
When the Boyd speech was made in Paterson, immediately some of the socialists rushed to the newspapers to protest. They called the attention of the authorities to the fact that the speech was made. The secretary of the socialist party and the organizer of the socialist party repudiated Boyd.
Sabotage is for the workingman an absolute necessity. Therefore it is almost useless to argue about its effectiveness. When men do a thing instinctively continually, year after year and generation after generation, it means that that weapon has some value to them.
November 28, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Sabotage is for the workingman an absolute necessity. Therefore it is almost useless to argue about its effectiveness. When men do a thing instinctively continually, year after year and generation after generation, it means that that weapon has some value to them.
§ "Used Sabotage, But Didn't Know What You Called It."
November 27, 2025 at 2:00 PM
§ "Used Sabotage, But Didn't Know What You Called It."
That is the power of interfering with industrial efficiency by a competent worker.
November 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM
That is the power of interfering with industrial efficiency by a competent worker.
It cost the paper as much, eventually, as the increased wages would have cost them, so that they came to the men figuratively on their bended knees and asked them, "Please be good and we will give you whatever you ask."
November 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM
It cost the paper as much, eventually, as the increased wages would have cost them, so that they came to the men figuratively on their bended knees and asked them, "Please be good and we will give you whatever you ask."
There was great consternation and indignation in the city. Advertisers, the peace conference, the circus protested. The circus would not pay their bill for advertising.
November 24, 2025 at 2:00 PM
There was great consternation and indignation in the city. Advertisers, the peace conference, the circus protested. The circus would not pay their bill for advertising.
...they reported the lion and the monkey as making speeches in the peace conference and the Honorable Mr. So-and-so doing trapeze acts in the circus.
November 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM
...they reported the lion and the monkey as making speeches in the peace conference and the Honorable Mr. So-and-so doing trapeze acts in the circus.
They took the peace conference where some high and mighty person was going to make an address on international peace and they put that man's speech in the circus news;...
November 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM
They took the peace conference where some high and mighty person was going to make an address on international peace and they put that man's speech in the circus news;...
Bitterness in the heart is a very good stimulus for sabotage. So they said, "All right, we will stay right at work boys, but we will do some funny business with this paper so they won't want to print it tomorrow under the same circumstances."
November 21, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Bitterness in the heart is a very good stimulus for sabotage. So they said, "All right, we will stay right at work boys, but we will do some funny business with this paper so they won't want to print it tomorrow under the same circumstances."
But other printers have accomplished the same results by the sabotage. In Copenhagen once there was a peace conference and a circus going on at the same time. The printers asked for more wages and they didn't get them. They were very sore.
November 20, 2025 at 2:00 PM
But other printers have accomplished the same results by the sabotage. In Copenhagen once there was a peace conference and a circus going on at the same time. The printers asked for more wages and they didn't get them. They were very sore.
They sent for them to come back and told them "So much of the paper will belong to the strikers and they can print what they please in it."
November 19, 2025 at 2:00 PM
They sent for them to come back and told them "So much of the paper will belong to the strikers and they can print what they please in it."
The men went on strike and the paper came out, a little bit of sheet, two by four, until eventually they realized that the printers had them by the throat, that they could not print any papers without the printers.
November 18, 2025 at 2:00 PM
The men went on strike and the paper came out, a little bit of sheet, two by four, until eventually they realized that the printers had them by the throat, that they could not print any papers without the printers.
The newspaper owners decided they would rather print no paper at all than tell the truth. Most of them would probably so decide in this country, too.
November 17, 2025 at 2:01 PM
The newspaper owners decided they would rather print no paper at all than tell the truth. Most of them would probably so decide in this country, too.
During the Swedish general strike these workers who belonged to the unions and were operating the papers rebelled against printing lies against their fellow strikers. They sent an ultimatum to the newspaper managers: "Either you print the truth or you'll print no papers at all."
November 16, 2025 at 2:00 PM
During the Swedish general strike these workers who belonged to the unions and were operating the papers rebelled against printing lies against their fellow strikers. They sent an ultimatum to the newspaper managers: "Either you print the truth or you'll print no papers at all."