Labor History in 2:00

June 9 - Gay? You’re Fired

On this day in Labor History the year was 1991. That was the day that a San Francisco man, Jeffrey Collins, received $5.3 million for wrongful termination from Shell Oil. The judge ruled the company had fired Jeffrey because they found out he was gay.  

June 12 - Team Owners Attack Free Agency

In 1981 the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the first two games of the World Series to their rivals, the New York Yankees. The Dodgers would come roaring back, sweeping the next four games. And so closed the curtain on one of the strangest seasons in baseball history.

June 11 - The Banana Massacre

On this day in Labor History the year was 1913. Police in New Orleans shot at maritime workers striking against the United Fruit Company. 

Two workers were wounded.  A third laid dead in the street. At the time of the strike the port in New Orleans was one of the busiest U.S. ports for importing bananas. 

June 10 - The Equal Pay Act of 1963

On this day in Labor History the year was 1963. That was the day President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act. 

The goal of the act was to end wage discrimination against women.  

June 9 - Birth of a Fighter

On this day in Labor History the year was 1865. Labor leader Helen Marot was born to a wealthy Quaker family in Philadelphia. 

Helen grew up around the written word, as her father was a book binder and seller

June 8 - The Silent Skies

On this day in Labor History the year was 1966. That was the day that the roaring of the jet age grew quiet across the United States. 

35,000 members of the International Association of Mechanics went out on strike.  

June 7 - Workers Holiday in Michigan

On this day in Labor History the year was 1937. The leader of Lansing, Michigan’s United Auto Workers union, Lester Washburn, returned home, in the wee hours of the morning. He had been to Detroit for a meeting.  At his home he found a disturbing scene.

June 6 - Fighting Apartheid

On this day in Labor History the year was 1988.  That was the day that between two and three million black workers went on strike in South Africa. The Congress of South African Trade Unions had called for three days of “national peaceful protest.”  

June 5 - The UFCW is Founded

On this day in Labor History the year was 1979. That was the day that leaders from the Retail Clerks and the Amalgamated Meat Cutters unions began two-day special conventions to discuss merging their organizations. The result was the forming of the United Food and Commercial Workers.  

June 4 - Minimum Wage Through the Years

In the past few years you may have seen news stories about efforts to raise the minimum wage.  From the “Fight for Fifteen,” to various state-based campaigns, raising the minimum wage has become an important campaign for workers.  But do you know where in the United States the minimum wage started?