Labor History in 2:00

On this day in Labor History the year was 1930. That was the day that Dolores Huerta was born in the mining town of Dawson, New Mexico.  

The fight for an eight hour work day was one of the most difficult and important efforts of the US labor movement. 

Slogans such as “Eight hours for work, eight hours for sleep, eight hours for what we will!” became the rallying cry of working people.

On this day in Labor History the year was 1911. At 6:30 in the morning an explosion shook the Banner Mine, owned by the Pratt Consolidated Coal Company. Banner was located near what would later become Birmingham, Alabama.

Their slogan was “Justice for Janitors!” Their chant was “Si se puede!” “Yes we can!”

Their image was a red and black poster of a mop raised high in a clenched fist. 3,000 members of SEIU Local 1877 marched in the streets of downtown Los Angeles.  

Often Southern states are the focus of histories of slavery in the United States. 

But did you know that in the early 1700s one in five residents of New York were enslaved Africans? 

On this day in Labor History the year was 1954. It began what some have called the “longest major strike in U.S. history.”  The strike was against Kohler, the Wisconsin-based manufacturer of bathroom fixtures. 

 

On this day in Labor History, the year was 1968.  This is a day of mourning. Today is the day an assassin’s bullet murdered Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as he was coming out of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.  

 

On this day in Labor History the year was 1968.  That was the night that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his now famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee.  He was speaking in support of striking sanitation workers who were members of AFSCME Local 1733.  

When you go shopping, do you remember to look for the union label?  On this day in Labor History the year was 1909. 

The American Federation of Labor launched its “Union Label” department

On this day in Labor History the year was 1929. 

It was the first day of the strike at the Loray textile mill in Gastonia, North Carolina. 

Textile mill workers in the south were paid significantly less than workers in the north.