On July 24, the pounding rhythms of punk music will rock the Minneapolis street where, 70 years earlier, two strikers were killed and more than 65 wounded during the historic -- and bloody -- Teamsters struggle. Young members of Minneapolis labor unions, seeking to keep the history and significance of the 1934 events alive, have organized the festival titled "One Day in July."

?We found that very few people in our generation know about the day in July 1934 when the Minneapolis police opened fire on the striking truck drivers,? said Kieran Knutson, 33, a member of the Communication Workers of America and the lead organizer of One Day in July. The Minneapolis labor turmoil of 70 years ago is widely regarded by historians as a major turning point in labor organizing during the tumultuous Depression years.

One Day in July will take place from 2 to 10 p.m., Saturday, July 24, at the intersection of 3rd Street N. and 6th Avenue N., a block south of Washington Ave. in the Warehouse District -? the site where police opened fire on unarmed strikers in 1934. The street festival, which will be free and open to the public, will include food and beverage vendors and feature musical performances.

Performers committed to participate in the festival so far include The Strike, a political punk band from Chicago; Sicbay, an alternative rock band; Clay Moore Trio, a jazz group; Kari Tauring, an acoustic folk singer; Heads & Bodies, a post- punk political band; Paul Metsa. folk/blues singer and band; and Belles of Skin City, an art-rock band. Commitments from additional artists are pending and will be announced later.

The Strike is a Chicago-based punk-rock band whose preferred subtitle is ?Kicking Ass for the Working Class.? Three of the four band members are union building tradespersons?two electricians and a plumber.

All performers are donating their services as a tribute to the sacrifices of the workers of 1934, organizers said.

?We want the character of the event to be popular and powerful, in the spirit of the '34 strikes,? Knutson said. ?And, we hope to make this an annual event to keep the history alive and to connect it to the challenges workers face today.?

The murderous assault on workers in 1934 was the culmination of a series of three strikes that year organized by Teamsters Local 574. The bloody confrontation on July 20 occurred when the anti-union business organization known as the Citizens Alliance demanded that Police Chief Mike Johannes attack a crowd of unarmed pickets. After the deaths and injuries inflicted by the police, pro-union sentiments rose decisively in Minneapolis and spread nationwide.

Later, a special investigation commission appointed by Governor Floyd B. Olson found that ?Police took direct aim at the pickets and fired to kill. Physical safety of the police was at no time endangered...?

The historic events are recorded in detail in William Millikan?s A Union Against Unions: The Minneapolis Citizens Alliance and Its Fight Against Organized Labor, 1903-1947, published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press in 2001.

Members of the organizing committee for One Day in July include Kieran Knutson, Communications Workers of America Local 7250; Jason Evans and Holly Krig, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 789; Jim McGuire, Office and Professional Employees Union Local 12; Peter Molenaar, Teamsters Local 970; and Jeff Pilacinski, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3800. Volunteer first aid is being provided by union nurses.

Funding for the event is being raised through the sale of program book ads.

For more information
Visit the organizing committee's website, www.1934strike.org