Labor History in 2:00

May 5 - The Battle of Harlan

On this day in Labor History the year was 1931. That was the day that became known as the “Battle of Harlan” or the “Battle for Evarts.” Harlan County, Kentucky was coal country. Miners worked long hours underground and faced dangerous, and often deadly working conditions. 

May 4 - The Day that Changed the World

On this day in Labor History the year was 1886. That evening a worker’s rally in Chicago Illinois became known as the Haymarket Tragedy. On May 1, workers from across the city and country had held massive rallies for the eight-hour day. Two days later,the police had fired into a crowd of workers on strike outside of the McCormick Reaper plant in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen. 

May 3 - Voice of the Labor Movement

On this day in Labor History the year was 1919. That was the birthday of folk musician Pete Seeger.  Seeger and his music would become staples of the US labor movement. He was born into a musical family.  

May 2 - Birth of a Labor Pioneer

On this day in Labor History the year was 1830.  That was the birthday of Richard Trevellick, one of the early leaders of the US labor movement and the fight for the eight-hour work day. Of English descent, Richard was the son of a Cornish farmer. As a young man Trevellick took up the trade of a ship carpenter. 

May 1 - MayDay: International Workers Day

On this day in Labor History the year was 1886. That was the day that workers throughout the United States walked off their jobs in a coordinated, planned effort and demanded the eight-hour day. What made the strike truly revolutionary, was that the workers were not asking for reduced pay for reduced hours. They wanted their pay-level to stay the same.  

April 30 - Regulating Obstruction and Intimidation

On this day in Labor History the year was 2012. That was the day that updated National Labor Relations Board rules regarding the formation of new unions went into effect.  The rules cut down the time between when workers announced they want to hold an election to form a union and when that election can actually take place.  The rule change was aimed at cutting down delaying tactics used by employers to stop unionization.

April 29 - The Mine Wars Get Ugly

On this day in Labor History the year was 1899. That was the day that Idaho miners detonated 50 cases of dynamite at the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mine in Wardner.  For nearly a decade Idaho miners and owners had been locked in bitter battle in the Coeur d’Alene District. The mining companies fought against unionization.  

April 28 - Merging for Strength

On this day in Labor History the year was 1965. That was the day that American Federation of Hosiery Workers merged with Textile Workers Union of America. Hosiery workers had begun organizing as early as 1909.  By 1923 the American Federation of Full Fashioned Hosiery Workers, as the union was originally called, had affiliated with the American Federation of Labor

April 27 - The Fight for A Life

On this day in Labor History the year was 1825. That was the day that saw what is widely considered the first strike for the ten-hour work day.  It happened in Boston.  Journeymen carpenters had grown tired of being required to work from sun up to sun down.  They decided it was time to make a stand. 

April 26 - In the Streets for Jobs

On this day in Labor History the year was 1975.  That was the day the AFL-CIO held a “Jobs Now” rally in Washington, D.C. A painful recession had pushed unemployment in United States to nine percent. Many workers across the nation thought that the Ford administration was not doing enough to address the problems facing working families.