Sentence:  Efforts to unionize were routinely met with clubbings, shootings, jailings, blacklistings and executions, perpetrated not only by well-armed legions of company <WSD>goons</WSD>, but also by police officers, deputies, National Guardsmen and even regular soldiers. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A thug; a usually muscular henchman with little intelligence (also known as a 'hired goon').