Labor History in 2:00

March 19 - FDR Creates National Defense Mediation Board

Is it unpatriotic to go on strike when the nation is at war?  What if your workplace is in an industry critical to the war effort?  On this day in Labor History the year was 1941.

The world was at embroiled in the Second World War, and increasingly it seemed as if the United States would soon join the fighting.  

March 18 - NYC Postal Workers Touch Off Historic Strike

On this day in Labor History the year was 1970.  This was the day postal workers walked off the job in New York City.  The strike caught many by surprise.

The workers had not received a raise since 1967 and were not permitted by law to engage in collective bargaining. 

March 17 - Cesar Chavez Begins Historic March

On this day in Labor History the year was 1966.  This is the day Chicano labor organizer, Caesar Chavez started a 340 mile march from Delano to Sacramento, California for the rights of farm workers. 

The action had actually started the year before, in 1965.  Filipino farm workers had gone strike against grape growers in California. 

March 16 - The New York UFT is Founded

Albert Shanker was fed up.  Mr. Shanker taught math at a junior high in in Astoria, Queens.  He and his colleagues felt they were underpaid and not respected.  The assistant principal of the school even spied on their classrooms with binoculars! 

March 15 - The Painters Union is founded

On this day in Labor History the year was 1887.  This was the day the International Brotherhood of Painters and Decorators of America got their start issuing their first charter. John Elliot led the founding meeting

March 14 - Premier of Salt of the Earth

On this day in Labor History the year was 1954, marking the opening of the powerful labor film, “Salt of the Earth.” 

“Salt of the Earth” told the story of striking Chicano miner members of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Local 890 against the Empire Zinc mine in New Mexico. 

March 13 -Remembering Susan B. Anthony

On this day in Labor History the year was 1906.  That was the day the world lost a great champion of women’s and workers rights, Susan B. Anthony. 

Born in 1820 in Massachusetts to a Quaker family, Susan B. Anthony is most well-known for her tireless campaign to secure the right to vote for women. 

March 12 - Victory for the Bread & Roses Strike

The year was 1912. The Lawrence MA. Textile workers strike had worn on for over a month. 

More than 20,000 workers had walked off the job. Most of them were young women.

March 11 - Explosion at Macbeth Mines

On this day in Labor History the year was 1937.

 

It was a tragic day of history repeating itself. An explosion occurred deep inside the Macbeth mine, in Logan West Virginia. In the immediate aftermath the bodies of 2 miners were recovered.  

March 10 - NYC TWU Strikes Omnibus

On this day in Labor History the year was 1941. 

New Yorkers woke up to find a foot of snow blanketing their city.  Nearly a million New Yorkers also discovered their usual routine was going to be disrupted. 

At 5 a.m. the Transport Workers Union had walked off the job, calling a strike against the Fifth Avenue Coach and New York City Omnibus companies.