Forward Kentucky: On this Labor Day, consider the two dimensions of freedom
By TOM LOUDERBACK
One hundred and eighty years ago, the fugitive from slavery who outran bloodhounds, swam rivers, and hunkered down in the dark cellars of the underground railroad in the hope of reaching a welcoming community in Detroit, Toronto, or Boston instinctively understood both dimensions of freedom.
Fifty-some years after that, about 260,000 workers in Chicago and all over the country understood both dimensions of freedom, too, when they launched into their long strike against the Pullman Company over their starvation wages. The courts and the military were mobilized to suppress these workers but that didn’t bring them back into the shops and factories. The workers continued to endure deprivations while the company continued to endure financial losses week after week, until the company agreed to hire back many of the strikers.