Labor History in 2:00

June 10 A Decision Supporting Workers

On this day in Labor History the year was 1946.  That was the day that the US Supreme Court handed down a decision that would have massive implication for American workers. The case was known as Anderson V. Mount Clemens Pottery.  

June 9 The Power of Fear

On this day in Labor History the year was 1954.  That was the day that marked the public downfall of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. Senator McCarthy had become the public face of anti-Communist hysteria during the Cold War.  He used his position as Senator to make wild accusations against alleged communists in the US Government.  

June 8 The Difference the Wrong Politician Makes

On this day in Labor History the year was 1904. That was the day that John Carley, a union miner, was shot down in Dunnville, Colorado.  He was part of a strike in the Cripple Creek gold mining region.  

June 7 The High Cost of Standing Up

On this day in Labor History the year was 1929. That was the day that Police Chief Orville Aderholt was shot and killed, at a camp of striking textile workers in Gastonia, North Carolina.  The textile mills had fallen on hard times in the 1920s.  

June 6 The Difference the Right Politician Makes

On this day in Labor History the year was 1894.  That was the day that the Colorado state militia troops came to Cripple Creek to intervene in a mining strike. But unlike every other time in US mining history that a state militia was called out, the state troops did not have their guns pointed at the miners.  

June 5 Laying out His Plan

On this day in Labor History the year was 1947. That was the day that Secretary of State George Marshall delivered a speech at Harvard University.  In his speech Marshall made a call for the United States to send assistance to European countries devastated by World War II.  

June 4 Striking in Wisconsin

On this day in Labor History the year was 1904. That was the day when 900 Wisconsin paper makers walked off the job from Appleton to Menasha, from Combined Locks to Neenah.  They were members of the International Brotherhood of Paper Makers.  

June 3 Founding of the ILGWU

On this day in Labor History the year was 1900. That was the day that International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union was formed in New York City by seven local unions. While men held nearly all of the leadership roles in the early days of the union, most of the workers were Jewish women.  

June 2 Strike in the Mines

On this day in Labor History the year was 1916.  That was the day that John Greeni, an Italian immigrant miner, walked out the St. James Mine in Aurora, Minnesota.  The mine was part of the Mesabi Iron Range, the richest deposit of iron-ore in the United States. 

June 1 Against All Odds

On this day in Labor History the year was 1981.  That was the day that the “Cannery Murders” took place in Seattle, Washington.  Two union organizers, Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes were gunned down at their labor hall.  They were working to reform the canning industry for Local 37 of the International Longshoreman’s and Warehousemen’s Union.