Labor History in 2:00

December 1 - Sitting to Start a Movement

On this day in Labor History the year was 1955. That was the day that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. With that action she helped to launch the Civil Rights Movement. 

November 30 - A Budget for the People

On this day in Labor History the year was 1909. That was day the British House of Lords rejected the “People’s Budget.”  The proposed budget plan was a product of the Liberal government headed by Prime Minister H.H. Asquith. This budget was championed by Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George and the President of the Board of Trade, a young Winston Churchill.  

November 29 - A Powerful Voice for Women’s Rights is Born

On this day in Labor History the year was 1832, American author, Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Alcott is most well known for her classic book Little Women and its two sequels. She also wrote a novel called Work: A Story of Experience. 

November 28 - The IBEW is Born

On this day in Labor History the year was 1891. That was the day that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union began in St. Louis Missouri. At the time of the union’s founding the field of electrical work was very new.  Linemen often risked their lives for the job.  

November 27 - Workers Take Broadway by Storm

On this day in Labor History the year was 1937. That was the day the curtain first went up on the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union pro-labor production on Broadway. The show was called Pins and Needles. The revue played on Broadway until 1940 and was revived in 1978.  

November 26 - Revolutionizing the Rails

On this day in Labor History the year was 1867. That was the day that J.B. Sutherland of Detroit patented the first specialized refrigerated railroad car. Southerland’s design included ice tanks at both ends of the car and ventilation flaps on the floor, which used gravity to send a draft of cold air flowing throughout the car. 

November 25 - Strike for Better Schools

On this day in Labor History the year was 1946. That was the day that teachers in St. Paul, Minnesota went on strike. It was the first ever organized walkout of teachers in the United States. The strike was organized by the St. Paul Federation of Teachers Local 28. 

November 24 - Cigar Makers Organize

On this day in Labor History the year was 1875. That was the day that Samuel Gompers founded the Cigar Makers’ International Union Local 144 in New York City. The very first Cigar Marker’s Union local had been established in Baltimore in 1851 by craftsmen who opposed importation of lower-paid laborers from Germany. 

November 23 - Strike Like an Egyptian

On this day in labor history, we are going way, way, way back.  The year was 1170 B.C. So the exact date is a bit of an estimate.  Egyptian workers initiated what just might be the first recorded strike in world history. The workers were toiling on public works projects, including building tombs of the pharaohs, in the Valley of the Kings. 

November 22 - Clara Lemlich

On this day in Labor History the year was 1909.  That was the day that a young garment worker by the name of Clara Lemlich made a speech that would have a resounding impact on the labor movement in New York City.  Lemlich was at a union meeting, where she sat listening to men discuss whether garment workers should call a general strike. Finally she asked to speak.