Labor History in 2:00

On this day in Labor History the year was 1955. That was the day the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to become the AFL-CIO.  The American Federation of Labor was a confederation of unions can that trace its history all the way back to just after the Civil War, in 1866.

Would you go to jail for justice for working people?  Over the years many in the labor movement have had to make that decision.  Such was the case for Cesar Chavez.  On this day in labor history the year was 1970. Chavez, the head of the United Farm Workers, was jailed for twenty days for refusing to end a lettuce boycott.

On this day in Labor History the year was 1916. That was the day that seven Australian members of the Industrial Workers of the World were sentenced to fifteen years in prison for their antiwar efforts during World War I. Other IWW members were sentenced to as many as five and ten years each.

On this day in Labor History the year was 2009.  That was the day that Wal-Mart agreed to pay $40 million to over 87,000 current and former employees in Massachusetts. This was the largest class action settlement in the state’s history

On this day in Labor History the year was 1955. That was the day that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. With that action she helped to launch the Civil Rights Movement. 

On this day in Labor History the year was 1909. That was day the British House of Lords rejected the “People’s Budget.”  The proposed budget plan was a product of the Liberal government headed by Prime Minister H.H. Asquith. This budget was championed by Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George and the President of the Board of Trade, a young Winston Churchill.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1832, American author, Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Alcott is most well known for her classic book Little Women and its two sequels. She also wrote a novel called Work: A Story of Experience. 

On this day in Labor History the year was 1891. That was the day that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union began in St. Louis Missouri. At the time of the union’s founding the field of electrical work was very new.  Linemen often risked their lives for the job.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1937. That was the day the curtain first went up on the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union pro-labor production on Broadway. The show was called Pins and Needles. The revue played on Broadway until 1940 and was revived in 1978.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1867. That was the day that J.B. Sutherland of Detroit patented the first specialized refrigerated railroad car. Southerland’s design included ice tanks at both ends of the car and ventilation flaps on the floor, which used gravity to send a draft of cold air flowing throughout the car.