A daily, pocket-sized history of America's working people, brought to you by The Rick Smith Show team.
Episodes
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
On this day in Labor History Pinkerton Detectives arrived at job sites across the US to escort workers off the premises. No--this was not at a railroad or coal mine in labor’s distant past. It was at the offices of what was once the largest computer seller in the United States. And the year was 2000.
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1990. About 400 janitors were protesting at Century City, a large office complex in Los Angeles.
It was part of SEIU’s Justice for Janitors campaign in LA. The janitors had gone out on strike against International Service Systems.
Tuesday Jun 14, 2022
Tuesday Jun 14, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1924. Three-hundred members of the International Workers of the World, or Wobblies, gathered at their union hall in San Pedro California. They were holding a benefit for two of their members who had been killed in a railway accident. For the past year, the KKK had targeted the San Pedro IWW members.
Monday Jun 13, 2022
Monday Jun 13, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1991. That was the day that a San Francisco man, Jeffrey Collins, received $5.3 million for wrongful termination from Shell Oil. The judge ruled the company had fired Jeffrey because they found out he was gay.
Sunday Jun 12, 2022
Sunday Jun 12, 2022
In 1981 the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the first two games of the World Series to their rivals, the New York Yankees. The Dodgers would come roaring back, sweeping the next four games. And so closed the curtain on one of the strangest seasons in baseball history.
Saturday Jun 11, 2022
Saturday Jun 11, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1913. Police in New Orleans shot at maritime workers striking against the United Fruit Company.
Two workers were wounded. A third laid dead in the street. At the time of the strike the port in New Orleans was one of the busiest U.S. ports for importing bananas.
Friday Jun 10, 2022
Friday Jun 10, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1963. That was the day President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act.
The goal of the act was to end wage discrimination against women.
Thursday Jun 09, 2022
Thursday Jun 09, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1865. Labor leader Helen Marot was born to a wealthy Quaker family in Philadelphia.
Helen grew up around the written word, as her father was a book binder and seller
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1966. That was the day that the roaring of the jet age grew quiet across the United States.
35,000 members of the International Association of Mechanics went out on strike.
Tuesday Jun 07, 2022
Tuesday Jun 07, 2022
On this day in Labor History the year was 1937. The leader of Lansing, Michigan’s United Auto Workers union, Lester Washburn, returned home, in the wee hours of the morning. He had been to Detroit for a meeting. At his home he found a disturbing scene.