Central Falls hosts annual Labor Day commemoration of 1934 Saylesville Massacre

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. (WLNE) — The annual Labor Day commemoration of the 1934 Saylesville Massacre returned to Central Falls on Monday.

The event observes when striking workers fought a week-long battle against the Rhode Island National Guard and police during a nationwide textile strike.

Two workers were killed, and dozens were hurt during that strike.

The event on Monday billed as a chance to remember those workers and stand in solidarity with other union workers.

“They were being fired upon by forces that wanted to crush the union, brutally repress workers who were rising up in favor of better pay and better working conditions, and when people fled into this cemetery, they took shelter from the guns pointed at them, behind the very gravestones surrounding us, and several were shot and killed, many more were wounded. You can to this day see bullet holes in some of the gravestones right behind us. ” Rhode Island Labor History Society board member Miriam Reumann said.

Governor Dan McKee shared a Labor Day message on social media on Monday, which said “today we honor hardworking Rhode Islanders and the unions that stand with them.’