Labor History in 2:00

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.  

May 4 - The Call for an Eight Hour Day Met with Gunfire

On this day in Labor History the year was 1886. This was one of the most significant days in US labor history. 

A mass meeting of workers was called for that night in Chicago’s Haymarket Square.  

May 3 - Blood in the Streets for an Eight Hour Day

On this day in Labor History the year was 1886. A little after three o’clock on that Monday, in Chicago, radical labor activist and newspaper man August Spies climbed onto a box car to give a speech about the fight for the eight hour day. 

May 2 - Student Protests Erupt in France

On this day in Labor History the year was 1968. That was the day the administration shut down the Paris University at Naterre. Student protests at the school had begun weeks before around the ideas of a sexual revolution, or the right of young people to sleep together if they chose to without adult interference or moralizing. 

May 1 - May Day 1886

On this day in Labor History the year was 1886. This was the day that began events in Chicago that would make May First the most important day on the calendar for the labor movement across the world.  

April 30 - Coxey’s Army Marches on the Nation’s Capitol

On this day in Labor History the year was 1894. A group of 400-500 unemployed men marched down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the US Capitol. In a buggy at the front of the march rode Jacob Coxey.  

April 29 - The Bristol Boycott of 1963

When you stand up for Civil Rights and Workers Rights you never know how far the struggle may travel. This was the case on this day in Labor History the year was 1963.  

April 28 - OSHA is Founded

On this day in Labor History the year was 1971. That was the day that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was founded. Since then OSHA rules have become a powerful tool for the protection of workers health and safety.  

April 27 - The Lavender Scare

You have probably heard about the Red Scare, when thousands of people lost their jobs in the 1950s for allegedly harboring Communist sympathies. But have you ever heard of the “Lavender Scare” that happened during those same years?  

April 26 - An Act to Protect Free White Labor

In 1848 gold was discovered at John Sutter’s Mill in California. As word spread, fortune seekers from all across the United States and across the world flocked to California in what came to be known as the Gold Rush.