Episodes

Saturday Mar 30, 2019
March 31 - FDR Creates the Civilian Conservation Corps
Saturday Mar 30, 2019
Saturday Mar 30, 2019
On this day in Labor History the year was 1933. The nation was in the grips of the Great Depression. Long bread lines formed each day in major cities across the nation with at least one in four people out of work. The crisis deepened as the Dust Bowl ravaged US farmland crippling farmers and limiting food production.

Friday Mar 29, 2019
March 30 - Remembering ILWU leader Harry Bridges
Friday Mar 29, 2019
Friday Mar 29, 2019
The most important word in the language of the working class is ‘solidarity.’”
Those inspiring words were spoken by labor leader Harry Bridges, who died on this day in Labor History the year was 1990.

Friday Mar 29, 2019
March 29 - The Beginning of WalMart
Friday Mar 29, 2019
Friday Mar 29, 2019
On this day in Labor History the year was 1918 and someone was born who would forever change the retail industry in the United States. His name was Sam Walton.
Walton opened his first Walmart store in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas.

Wednesday Mar 27, 2019
March 28 - King’s Last March in Memphis
Wednesday Mar 27, 2019
Wednesday Mar 27, 2019
This is the day in Memphis that marked Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s final march for Civil Rights.
If you are a regular listener to Labor History in 2, last month you heard about how AFSCME sanitation workers in Memphis went on strike to win union recognition.

Wednesday Mar 27, 2019
March 27 - Strike on the Canadian Northern
Wednesday Mar 27, 2019
Wednesday Mar 27, 2019
On this day in Labor History the year was 1912. Between six and seven thousand workers walked off the job, on strike against the Canadian Northern Railway. Their issues included low pay, worker safety, and the poor quality of food and housing provided by the railroad.

Monday Mar 25, 2019
March 26 - Contract Farm Labor During World War II
Monday Mar 25, 2019
Monday Mar 25, 2019
On this day in Labor History the year was 1943.
The United States was in the midst of fighting World War II.
And by 1943 there were more than 9 million people serving as military personnel.

Sunday Mar 24, 2019
March 25 - Industrial Murder at Triangle ShirtWaist Factory
Sunday Mar 24, 2019
Sunday Mar 24, 2019
On this day in Labor History the year was 1911. Marking one the most tragic days in US labor history.
146 women and girls died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

Saturday Mar 23, 2019
March 24 - Coalition of Labor Union Women is Founded
Saturday Mar 23, 2019
Saturday Mar 23, 2019
On this day in Labor History the year was 1974.
It was the final day of a ground-breaking gathering of more than 3,000 women union members in Chicago to found the Coalition of Labor Union Women, or CLUW.

Friday Mar 22, 2019
March 23 - The Norris-LaGuardia Act
Friday Mar 22, 2019
Friday Mar 22, 2019
Do you know that it used to be legal for employers in their United States to make their employees sign a contract promising not join a union?
Such agreements were often referred to as “Yellow Dog Contracts.”

Friday Mar 22, 2019
March 22 - Mark Twain Speaks to the Power of Workers
Friday Mar 22, 2019
Friday Mar 22, 2019
At some time during your life you’ve probably read a book or heard a story by Mark Twain.
But did you know that this renowned American author was also a strong supporter of labor?
In 1835 he was born Samuel Clemens in town of Hannibal, Missouri.