Labor History in 2:00

January 4 - Rehabilitation, Not Humiliation

On this day in Labor History the year was 1965. That was the day that 8,000 social workers went on strike in New York City.  For twenty-eight days that bitter cold January these workers marched on the picket lines. They were members of AFSCME District Council 37 union and the Social Service Employees Union. 

January 3 - The Fight to Free Tom Mooney

On this day in Labor History the year was 1917. That was the day the trial against labor leader Tom Mooney began. 

Mooney stood accused of detonating a bomb at the "Preparedness Day," parade in San Francisco on July 22, 1916. 

January 2 - Industrial Murder at Sago Mine

On this day in Labor History the year was 2006. 

That was the day that a morning explosion at the Sago mine in West Virginia claimed the lives of twelve miners. 

The federal Mine Safety and Health administration had cited the mine more than two hundred times the year before the disaster. 

January 1 - The Liberator

On this day in Labor History the year was 1831. 

That was the day that William Lloyd Garrison published the first edition of “The Liberator.” 

The purpose of the newspaper was to push for the end of slavery in the United States.  

December 31 - The First to Enter Ellis Island

On this day in labor history the year was 1891. That was the day that an Irish teenager by the name of Annie Moore arrived on the shores of New York. She was travelling with her two younger brothers. They had taken a twelve-day sea voyage to be reunited with their parents, who were already in New York City.  

December 30 - Railway Clerks Organize

On this day in labor history the year was 1899.  That was the day that a group of thirty-three railway clerks gathered in the back room of Behrens’ cigar shop in Sedalia, Missouri.  They called themselves the Order of Railway Clerks in America. They affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.  

December 29 - Pushing Back Against Plant Closures

On this day in labor history the year was 2006. That was the day that United Steelworker members ended a nearly three-month strike against the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. The strike involved nearly 15,000 workers from sixteen different plants across the United States and Canada. 

December 28 - Sit Down Solidarity

On this day in labor history the year was 1936. That was the day that at 2pm  in the afternoon, 200 workers at the Fisher Body Ohio Company on the East side of Cleveland sat down on the job. Fisher was located in Cleveland’s Collinwoodneighborhood. 

December 27 - FDR Takes Over the Rails

On this day in labor history the year was 1943. That was the day that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt seized control of the nation’s railroads to avert a strike. The nation was in the midst of World War II.  

December 26 - A Rude Awakening

On this day in labor history the year was 1996. That was the day that working people of South Korea awoke to some alarming news. That morning the country’s new ruling party had passed a new set of labor laws.  The new policies had been implemented at an unscheduled morning meeting.