Labor History in 2:00

February 28 - Global Solidarity with 3M Workers

Union solidarity does not know national borders. 

This was abundantly clear today in labor history, the year was 1986.

450 workers in South Africa walked off the job to support laid off workers in New Jersey. 

February 27 - Criminalization of the Sit-Down

On this day in labor history the year was 1939 and the US Supreme Court ruled that sit-down strikes were illegal. 

If you are a regular listener of Labor History in 2:00, last month you might have heard how sit-down strikes had become an important tactic for workers during the 1930s.  

February 26 - Buffalo Creek Coal Dam Flood

On this day in labor history the year was 1972, marking the day of the Buffalo Creek Flood in West Virginia. 

The Pittson Coal Company’s coal waste impoundment dam failed during heavy rain causing more than 130 million gallons of water and coal waste to flood the valley below.  

February 25 - Remembering E.D. Nixon

On this day in labor history the year was 1987, marks the death of Edgar Daniel Nixon.

Nixon’s leadership in the struggle for black labor and civil rights spanned decades. 

February 24 - Child Labor Tax Law

On this day in labor history the year was 1919, the U.S. Congress passed the Child Labor Tax Law. 

At the turn of the twentieth century child labor had increasingly become an issue of concern in the United States. 

February 23 - This Land Is Your Land

On this day in labor history the year was 1940, in a hotel in New York City, Woody Guthrie penned the original lyrics of his song “This Land is Your Land.” 

February 22 - Sanitation Workers Historic Sit In

On this day in labor history the year was 1968 and striking sanitation workers staged a sit in at the City Council meeting in Memphis, Tennessee. 

The striking workers were members of AFSCME Local 1733. They had been on strike for ten days.  

February 21 - The Origins of Labor Day

Across the United States, workers enjoy the first Monday of September as their holiday. 

Labor Day has become known as a day for family picnics and community parades—but do you know how Labor Day really started?

February 20 - Women protest WWI food shortages

On this day in labor history the year was 1917, more than 400 Jewish mothers, many carrying their children, marched on City Hall in New York City. 

Their cry, which rang out in both Yiddish and English, was “We want food for our children.”  On the eve of the U.S. entry into World War I, inflation had sent the cost of food skyrocketing.  

February 19 - Weingarten Rights

If you are a member of union, you probably know that one of your most important protections as a worker is your “Weingarten Rights.” But do you know the story behind why union workers have those rights? 

It all started on this day in labor history the year was 1975.