A daily, pocket-sized history of America's working people, brought to you by The Rick Smith Show team.
Episodes
Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1928. That was the day that police shot at protesting union workers at Prince’s Pier in Melbourne Australia. Three union workers were injured, one fatally.
Tuesday Nov 01, 2022
Tuesday Nov 01, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1835. That was the day that workers in Philadelphia organized what was the first general strike in North America. There call was for a ten-hour workday.
Monday Oct 31, 2022
Monday Oct 31, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1941. That was the day that the completed Mount Rushmore monument was dedicated in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The monument portrays massive sculptures of U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt hewn into the side of a mountain.
Sunday Oct 30, 2022
Sunday Oct 30, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1986. That was the day that Edward Meese, gave a speech to the US Chamber of Commerce. Meese was serving as Attorney General under President Ronald Reagan. During the speech, Meese encouraged bosses to spy on their employees, in order to determine if they were using drugs.
Saturday Oct 29, 2022
Saturday Oct 29, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1929. That bleak day is now known as “Black Tuesday,” the day of the Stock Market crash that marked the start of the Great Depression. During the optimistic Roaring Twenties investments in the Stock Market soared.
Friday Oct 28, 2022
Friday Oct 28, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1965. That was the day that the St. Louis Gateway arch was completed in St. Louis. The project was the result of a nation-wide design competition.
Thursday Oct 27, 2022
Thursday Oct 27, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1951. That was the day that the National Negro Labor Council held its founding convention. African American workers had made significant gains in the American workforce during World War II.
Wednesday Oct 26, 2022
Wednesday Oct 26, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1825. That was the day the construction of the Erie Canal was completed.
The 363 mile canal connected the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, by way of the Hudson River. The project was started in 1817.
Tuesday Oct 25, 2022
Tuesday Oct 25, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1990.
That was the day that eight of the ten unions at the New York Daily News went out on strike.
The paper had had one of the highest daily circulations in the United States.
The New York Daily News was owned by the Chicago-based Tribune Company.
The strike began when management demanded major concessions from the delivery drivers, essentially forcing them to strike.
Seven more unions joined them on the picket line.
In retaliation management brought in scab labor.
This caused a ninth union to join the walkout.
The Newspaper Guild workers had planned to honor the picket lines, but not go on strike themselves.
But according in an article in the Los Angeles Times, “said local Guild President Barry Lipton, the editorial employees decided almost immediately at an afternoon meeting to go on strike rather than to work with any “imported scabs and goons.”
Well known journalist Juan Gonzalez, was a strike leader for the local.
By using replacement workers, Daily News management was able to keep the paper in production.
But they found it much more difficult to get the paper distributed.
Even where they could make delivery, many newsstands refused to sell the struck paper.
The New York Times blamed this on intimidation from delivery drivers.
But they also acknowledged that some refused distribution “either out of sympathy for strikers or an unwillingness to offend pro-union customers.”
To support the strike, the unions put on a concert headlined by Lou Reed, along with Pete Seeger, Q-Tip from a Tribe Called Quest and other musicians.
The strike lasted for five months, prompting the Tribune to sell the paper.
Under new management the strike was finally settled.
Monday Oct 24, 2022
Monday Oct 24, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1934. That was the day that the first minimum wage law went into effect in the United States. The minimum was twenty-five cents an hour. The wage law was part of the Fair Labor Standards Act passed earlier that year.