Labor History in 2:00

On this day in Labor History the year was 1893.  That was the day that Eugene V. Debs founded the American Railway Union.  The goal of the union was to organize railroad workers from different job classifications.  Previous railroad unions have been based on job type.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1937. That was the day that would go down in labor history as the “Woman’s Day Massacre.” 

The Steel Workers Organizing Committee were attempting to bring union recognition to the Steel Industry.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1942. That was the day that an historic meeting took place at the White House. 

Black labor leader A. Philip Randolph, along with the head of the NAACP sat down to talk with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1903. Mary Harris  better known as “Mother” Jones held a rally in Philadelphia. 

The famous Irish-American labor leader had come to Pennsylvania to support a strike of textile workers. As many as one-hundred thousand workers were out on strike.  

On this day in Labor History Pinkerton Detectives arrived at job sites across the US to escort workers off the premises. No--this was not at a railroad or coal mine in labor’s distant past.  It was at the offices of what was once the largest computer seller in the United States. And the year was 2000.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1990. About 400 janitors were protesting at Century City, a large office complex in Los Angeles. 

It was part of SEIU’s Justice for Janitors campaign in LA.  The janitors had gone out on strike against International Service Systems. 

On this day in Labor History the year was 1924. Three-hundred members of the International Workers of the World, or Wobblies, gathered at their union hall in San Pedro California.  They were holding a benefit for two of their members who had been killed in a railway accident. For the past year, the KKK had targeted the San Pedro IWW members.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1991. That was the day that a San Francisco man, Jeffrey Collins, received $5.3 million for wrongful termination from Shell Oil. The judge ruled the company had fired Jeffrey because they found out he was gay.  

In 1981 the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the first two games of the World Series to their rivals, the New York Yankees. The Dodgers would come roaring back, sweeping the next four games. And so closed the curtain on one of the strangest seasons in baseball history.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1913. Police in New Orleans shot at maritime workers striking against the United Fruit Company. 

Two workers were wounded.  A third laid dead in the street. At the time of the strike the port in New Orleans was one of the busiest U.S. ports for importing bananas.