One of the standout features of the Uprising of ’34 was the Flying Squadron. Often organized locally and ad hoc, groups of strikers and supporters in mobile pickets hit textile mills calling workers to join, and stopping scabs. Sent to the paper of A.J. Muste’s ‘American Workers Party, here is a brief example from Thomasville, North Carolina of those actions; actions where numbers and determination, however briefly, overturned the generations of violently entrenched power in a Southern mill town. Nearly two dozen people were killed on such picket lines during the strike.

‘A Flying Squadron Comes to Town’ by an Unemployed Textile Worker from Labor Action (A.W.P.). Vol. 2 No. 17. October 1, 1934.

Thomasville, North Carolina The Flying Squad of Pickets arrived here at 10 a.m.

Surrounding the Amazon cotton mill was the Thomasville police force and all the deputy sheriffs that could be found. Chief Smith stood at the front gate with tear gas bombs in each hand. He shouted at the strikers.

“I will throw them if you don’t stay out of here!”

The leader replied–“Throw one and die you yellow black s-o-b!”

About that time the crowd had split up and some gathered below the fence and raised the wire posts out of the ground and all went under like a swarm of bees.

There stood officer Goins formerly known as 2-gun Pete. Officer Goins won his bad name by beating up boys. This time his 2 guns disappeared around the corner and the strikers entered the mill and drove out the scabs.

Forcing their way as they went, next they went to the Jewel cotton mill and officer Russel was standing backed up in front of the door with gun in hand.

“Don’t come in here boys. I will have to shoot.”

“Shoot and be damned,” shouted the leader.

The leader made a dive for the door and officer Russel departed. He is the famous drunkard of the law abiding police department.

The Flying Squad forced the scabs out and drove them away from the crowd and then moved quietly away toward Winston Salem where they met reinforcements of about 1,000 more and closed all the textile plants there.

As for relief in Davidson county, all our office holders are Democrats and dear reader you know the balance. Charlie Wall who is a relief worker and was fired three weeks ago received a food order to the amount of $1 to feed himself and wife 1 week. T.B. Adams who was fired and who has 6 in family received $3.72. D.L. Strickland received $1.29. We need not expect any better. Unemployed leagues are springing up almost over night.

Print above as you see fit. I like your paper which I get from Highpoint and am anxious to get the next issue. Am A.W.P. 100 percent as who wouldn’t be that had their right mind.

There are a number of periodicals with the name Labor Action in our history. This Labor Action was a bi-weekly newspaper published in 1933-34 by AJ Muste’s American Workers Party. The AWP grew from the Conference for Progressive Labor Action, founded in 1929, and Labor Action replaced the long-running CPLA magazine, Labor Age. Along with Muste, the AWP had activists and writers James Burnham and Art Preis. When the AWP fused with the Trotskyist Communist League of America in late 1934, their joint paper became The New Militant.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/laboraction-cpla/v2n17-oct-01-1934-LA-Muste.pdf