Labor History in 2:00

March 7 - Remembering Lucy Parsons

On this day in Labor History the year was 1942. That was the day a house fire claimed the life of a true champion for working people. Lucy Gonzales Parsons was born in Texas.  

March 6 - The Dred Scott Decision

On this day in Labor History the year was 1857. That was the day the Supreme Court handed down one of its most infamous decisions. It was known as the Dred Scott case. Dred Scott had been born into slavery.  

March 5 - The Workers Uprising that Sparked the American Revolution

On this day in Labor History the year was 1770. That was the day of the Boston Massacre, when the first shots of the American Revolution were fired. But did you know that the massacre happened in part because of a dispute over jobs?  In 1767 the British had passed the Townshend Revenue Act. 

March 4 - The Seamen’s Act Is Signed into Law

On this day in Labor History the year was 1914. That was the day that President Woodrow Wilson signed the Seaman’s Act into law. The act was in part a response to the tragic sinking of the Titanic.The International Seamen’s Union was demanding changes to the work conditions at sea.  

 

March 3 - William Green is Born

On this day in Labor History the year was 1893. That was the day that William Green, long-time president of the American Federation was born in Coshocton, Ohio. Green’s family were English and Welsh immigrant coal miners.  

March 2 - Outlawing the Slave Trade

On this day in Labor History the year was 1807. That was the day that President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation outlawing the trans-Atlantic slave trade from bringing enslaved Africans to the United States. At the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, the authors had decided to revisit the question of slavery after two decades.  

March 1 - Striking for a Better Tomorrow

On this day in Labor History the year was 1900. That was the day that the members of the Granite Cutters National Union walked out on strike.

Their demands were improved wages and the eight hour day.  

February 28 - The Price of Demanding Equal Pay

On this day in Labor History the year was 1942. That was the day that Sue Cowan Williams filed a lawsuit for equal pay for black school teachers in Little Rock, Arkansas. Eighty-six black teachers worked in the city’s segregated school system. They were all members of the Little Rock Class Room Teachers Association.  

February 27 - A Grave Injustice

On this day in Labor History the year was 1942. That was the day that 27 Japanese women, working in the Seattle public school system handed in their forced resignations. In the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, anti-Japanese hysteria swept the United States, especially the west coast.  

February 26 - MADISON!

On this day in Labor History the year was 2011. That was the day that labor movement took an historic stand in Madison, Wisconsin. That cold Saturday a crowd of union members and supporters swelled to more than 100,000 people at the state capitol building.