Labor History in 2:00

May 14 - The Day the Beer Stopped Flowing

One could say that brewing beer is important to the identity of the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Even the city’s baseball team goes by the name the “Brewers.” And so on this day in Labor History the year was 1953. The beer brewers in Milwaukee walked off the job in what came to be a ten week strike.  

May 13 - Driving Toward a Better Life

On this day in Labor History the year was 1998 and if you tried catch a cab in New York City on that particular day you probably did not have much luck. The city’s yellow cab drivers held a one day strike to protest Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s new taxi cab regulations. 

May 12 - The March to Stomp Out Poverty

On this day in Labor History the year was 1968. It was mother’s day. Coretta Scott King, the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a group of thousands of women in a demonstration in Washington D.C.  

May 11 - In the Streets of Pullman

On this day in Labor History the year was 1894. It was the first day of the Pullman Strike.  

May 10 - Done!!!

On this day in Labor History the year was 1869. At 2:47 pm a one-word telegram was sent from Promontory Summit, Utah.  The message read simply, “done.”  

May 9 - The Tragic Death of a Visionary Leader

On this day in Labor History the year was 1970.   On that day workers and the US labor movement lost a leading voice in a tragic plane crash. 

May 8 - Getting the Rails in Line

If you are a member of a union, how well do you know your union’s history? You might be surprised to find out how far back that history goes. Such is the case with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. 

May 7 - The Order of the Knights of St. Crispin

On this day in Labor History the year was 1867. That was the day that shoemakers founded the labor union the Knights of St. Crispin, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  St. Crispin is the patron saint of cobblers.

May 6 - Fighting for Justice on Tobacco Road

On this day in Labor History the year was 1937.  That was the year that 400 black women who worked as tobacco stemmers walked off the job at I.N. Vaughn and Company in Richmond, VA. 

May 5 - The Founding of the Printers Voice

On this day in Labor History the year was 1852. It was the last day of a three-day convention held in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Printers who worked for newspapers and other publications from fourteen cities had converged to decide if they wanted to form a union.