Labor History in 2:00

May 17 -You Can Burn a Building but…

On this day in Labor History the year was 1838. The Second Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women was being held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For a while, a group of anti-slavery abolitionists had had difficulty finding a venue in the city willing to host their convention. 

May 16 - Remembering A. Philip Randolph

On this day in Labor History the year was 1979. That was the day that A Philip Randolph, perhaps the most significant African American figure in the US Labor Movement, passed away.

May 15 - T-Bone Slim: Voice of the Struggle

On this day in labor history the year was 1942. The Labor Movement lost one of its prolific voices. T Bone Slim was born Matti Valentinpoika Huhta in Ashtabula Ohio. 

May 14 - The Day the Beer Stopped Flowing

One could say that brewing beer is important to the identity of the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Even the city’s baseball team goes by the name the “Brewers.” And so on this day in Labor History the year was 1953. The beer brewers in Milwaukee walked off the job in what came to be a ten week strike.  

May 13 - Driving Toward a Better Life

On this day in Labor History the year was 1998 and if you tried catch a cab in New York City on that particular day you probably did not have much luck. The city’s yellow cab drivers held a one day strike to protest Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s new taxi cab regulations.

May 12 - The March to Stomp Out Poverty

On this day in Labor History the year was 1968. It was mother’s day. Coretta Scott King, the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a group of thousands of women in a demonstration in Washington D.C. 

May 11 - In the Streets of Pullman

On this day in Labor History the year was 1894. It was the first day of the Pullman Strike

May 10 - Done!

On this day in Labor History the year was 1869. At 2:47 pm a one-word telegram was sent from Promontory Summit, Utah.  The message read simply, “done.”  

May 9 - Remembering Walter Reuther

On this day in Labor History the year was 1970.   On that day workers and the US labor movement lost a leading voice in a tragic plane crash. 

May 8 - Getting the Rails In Line

If you are a member of a union, how well do you know your union’s history? You might be surprised to find out how far back that history goes. Such is the case with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.