Labor History in 2:00

August 14 - A Little Security for Workers

On this day in Labor History the year was 1936.

That was the day that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. 

The act was a key piece of the President’s “New Deal” a series of federal programs responding to the ravages of the Great Depression. 

Social Security would provide an income for retirees and the disabled, to ensure they did no slide into complete destitution. 

On signing the bill, President Roosevelt, known for delivering memorable speeches, addressed the press. 

He said, “Today, the hope of many years’ standing in large part fulfilled.  The civilization of the past hundred years, with its startling industrial changes, had tended more and more to make life insecure.  Young people have come to wonder what will their lot when they come to old age.  The man with a job has wondered how long that job will last.  This Social Security measure gives at least some protection to 50 million of our citizens who will reap direct benefits through unemployment compensation, through old age pensions, and through increased services for the protection of children and the prevention of ill health.” 

He went on to say, “The law will flatten out the peaks and valleys of deflation and inflation. It is, in short, a law that will care of human needs and at the same time provide the United States an economic structure of vastly greater soundness.” 

Over the past few decades, politicians, have increasingly sounded the alarm that Social Security will not remain viable as the large baby boomer generation retires and draws benefits. 

Yet despite those who seek to attack Social Security, it remains a bedrock of the social safety net for millions of Americans.

August 13 - The Newsroom is THE Story

On this day in Labor History the year was 1936. That was the day that thirty-five journalists of the Seattle Post-Intelligencerwalked off the job.  They represented about half of the paper’s news room staff at the time.  

August 12 - Carpenters Union Founded

On this day in Labor History the year was 1881.  That was the day that the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners passed their first constitution at a meeting in Chicago. The meeting was organized by Peter J. McGuire. 

August 11 - Fighting for a Say

On this day in Labor History the year was 2013. That was the day a somewhat unexpected new union formed in Bangor, Maine.  Local 207 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers represents lobster fisherman.  Lobster fisherman are known for being fiercely independent.  

August 10 - The Greatest Construction Show on Earth

On this day in Labor History the year was 1954.  That was the day of the groundbreaking ceremony of what would come to be known as “the greatest construction show on earth.”  The show was the development of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. 

August 9 - The Start of a Wave

On this day in Labor History the year was 1927. That was the day that the California School Employees Association was founded. 

Today the union includes more than 215,000 members. But it all started with just nine men and one woman.  

August 8 - An inspiration for the Nation

On this day in Labor History the year was 1994.  President Bill Clinton posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Latino farm worker organizer Cesar Chavez.  It is the highest honor granted to civilians.  

August 7 - Fighting to Be Heard

In the early 1980s telephone service in the United States went through a major shake-up.  Up until that time AT&T through their Bell Operating Companies monopolized almost all of the telephone service in the nation. One-hundred-fifty million phones were part of the Bell network.  

August 6 - Lightnin’ Struck

On this day in Labor History the year was 1919.  That was the day that stages across New York City went dark.  Actors Equity was on strike against the Producing Managers Association.  Up until that time stage actors often faced poor work conditions.  

August 5 - The Shot Heard ‘Round the Boardroom

On this day in Labor History the year was 1981. It was a dark day in U.S. labor history. 

Nearly 13,000 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization had been out on strike for two days.