Labor History in 2:00

November 24 - Cigar Makers Unionize

On this day in Labor History the year was 1875. That was the day that Samuel Gompers founded the Cigar Makers’ International Union Local 144 in New York City. The very first Cigar Marker’s Union local had been established in Baltimore in 1851 by craftsmen who opposed importation of lower-paid laborers from Germany. 

November 23 - Strike Like an Egyptian

On this day in labor history, we are going way, way, way back.  The year was 1170 B.C. So the exact date is a bit of an estimate.  Egyptian workers initiated what just might be the first recorded strike in world history. The workers were toiling on public works projects, including building tombs of the pharaohs, in the Valley of the Kings. 

November 22 - Clara Lemlich

On this day in Labor History the year was 1909.  That was the day that a young garment worker by the name of Clara Lemlich made a speech that would have a resounding impact on the labor movement in New York City.  Lemlich was at a union meeting, where she sat listening to men discuss whether garment workers should call a general strike. Finally she asked to speak.  

November 21 - The Canuts

On this day in Labor History the year was 1831. That was the day that silk workers went on strike in Lyon, France. It was one of several strikes, known as the Canut revolts. Canut was a term used to describe Lyonnais silk workers. 

November 20 - The Scab

On this day in Labor History the year was 1816. That was the day the Albany Typographical Society used the term “scab” to describe a strikebreaker. The word scab had been used in England for nearly three centuries as a slang meaning a rascal or scoundrel. By the late 1700s, laborers began to use the insult to refer to workmen who wouldn't join a union or a strike.  

November 19 - Joe Hill’s Final Words

On this day in Labor History the year was 1915.  On that sad day, Industrial Workers of the World organizer and songwriter, Swedish-born Joe Hill, was executed in Utah. In 1914, Hill was framed for the murder of a grocer and his son in Salt Lake City.  The evidence was circumstantial at best. 

November 18 - Atlanta GM Workers Kick Off a Wave of Sit-Downs

On this day in Labor History the year was 1936. That was the day workers at the General Motors plant in Atlanta, Georgia participated in a sit-down strike. This was part of a wave of labor organizing during the 1930s. Other GM plants in Kansas City, Mo. and Cleveland, Ohio went on strike.

November 17 - The Anti-Communist Witchhunt

On this day in Labor History the year was 1947. That was the day that the Screen Actors Guild voted to make all SAG members take an anti-Communist loyalty oath. The late 1940s were the dawn of the US Cold War with the Soviet Union. Anti-Communist hysteria swept the country. 

November 16 - Using the Law to Crush Organizing

On this day in Labor History the year was 1798. On that day Kentucky became the first state to nullify an act of the United States Congress. The federal government had passed the Alien and Sedition Acts during the presidency of John Adams.  

November 15 - Founding of the AFL

On this day in Labor History the year was 1881. That was the day that trade unionists held the founding convention of the Federation of Trades and Labor Unions in Pittsburgh. This group later changed its name to the American Federation of Labor. During the 1880's it grew to replace the Knights of Labor as the most powerful labor union organization in the United States.