On this day in labor history, the year was 1946 is what is known as the Royal Indian Navy Revolt.
The HMS Talwaar was in Bombay Harbor.
Indian workers on ship went on strike.
They refused orders from the British naval officers.
The workers were protesting the abysmal working conditions as well as the awful food they were served.
By the next day the revolt had spread to British naval facilities on shore. Indian workers had torn down the “Union Jack” British Flag and hung red flags in its place.
They took over a local radio station and broadcast news of the revolt.
As the news of the strike spread to other ports. It grew to include some 20,000 Indian sailors and 74 ships.
Workers from the city of Mumbai, also known as Bombay, went on general strike in support of the cause.
The British military cracked down harshly on this defiance. Seven sailors were killed and nearly 500 were court martialed.
The revolting sailors did not receive support from Mahatma Ghandi or most Indian Nationalists, who did not support the striking workers tactics.
Yet, the sailors had demonstrated the deep dissent within the ranks of the British Navy in India. Before they surrendered the striking naval workers drafted a resolution.
It read in part: "Our uprising was an important historical event in the lives of our people. . .The coming generations, learning its lessons shall accomplish what we have not been able to achieve. Long live the working masses. Long live the Revolution.”
Indian independence became a reality a year later, in 1947.
Recognition of the revolting heroes came in the 1970’s as the strikers were honored by the Indian government. The Indian Navy named two ships after Madan Singh and B.C Dutt. A memorial located in Mumbai.
Labor History in 2:00 brought to you by the Illinois Labor History Society and The Rick Smith Show