Labor History in 2:00

April 13 - The Laborers Union is Founded

On this day in Labor History the year was 1903. That was the year the day that twenty-five delegates from seventeen cities gathered in Washington, D.C. to discuss forming a union for laborers. General laborers, who often performed some of the most back-breaking work on projects like digging canals or surfacing streets, were often blocked from joining craft unions as full members

April 12 - The Historic Walkout at Toledo Auto-Lite

On this day in Labor History the year was 1934.  That was the day that workers at the Toledo Auto-Lite factory decided to go out on strike.  The company made electric starters for the auto giants in nearby Detroit.  The punishing effects of the Great Depression had hit the auto industry hard.  

April 11 - Terrorists Try to Silence Workers

On this day in Labor History the year was 1934.  That was the day that labor organizer Frank Norman disappeared from the Lakeland, Florida area and was never heard from again.  It is believed he was kidnapped and murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Norman was organizing citrus workers in the northern part of the state.  

April 10 - In the Streets Against Cruelty

On this day in Labor History the year was 2006. That was the day of massive protests for immigrants’ rights in cities throughout the United States. Starting in March of 2006, there was a series of coordinated protests in response to a bill passed by the US House of Representatives. The bill would classify undocumented workers as felons, and proposed a wall along one-third of the US-Mexico border.  

April 9 - Minneapolis Teachers Fight for all Public Sector Workers

On this day in Labor History the year was 1970. That was the day that Minneapolis Teachers Union, Local 59, went out on strike. They took the vote to strike, despite the fact state law prohibited teachers from striking.  But after months of negotiations that went nowhere, the teachers decided it was time to act. The main issue for the strike was wages. 

April 8 - Truman Takes Over Steel

On this day in Labor History the year was 1952. That was the day that President Truman issued Executive Order 10340, nationalizing the US Steel Industry. He hoped to stop a looming steel strike, while the country was embroiled in the Korean War. 

April 7 - The Day the Line Went Dead

On this day in Labor History the year was 1947. If you tried to make a telephone call that day, you might have been out luck. During that time, telephone calls were connected by operators. Ninety-five percent of the operators were women.  

April 6 - Women Marching Off to Work

On this day in Labor History the year was 1917. That was the day the that the United States declared war on Germany and entered World War I.  The war had been raging since 1914, but the US did not enter the conflict until 1917.  Dubbed the “War to End All Wars,” the conflict transformed the work experience for many women.  

April 5 - One Day Longer

On this day in Labor History the year was 1989. That was the day that the United Mine Workers of America called a strike against the Pittston Coal Company. Negotiations with the miners who worked in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky had drug on for fourteen months

April 4 - A Day of Mourning

On this day in Labor History the year was 1968. That was the day that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered by an assassin’s bullet in Memphis, Tennessee.  He was in Memphis to support AFSCME sanitation workers, who were out on strike fighting for better wages and working conditions.