Labor History in 2:00

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?

June 3 - Look for the ILGWU Label

On this day in Labor History the year was 1900. That was the day that the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union was formed. Eleven delegates attended the founding meeting. They represented the major garment making cities of the east coast.  

June 2 - The Nation’s First Strike

On this day in Labor History, we are going all the way back to the year 1786.  That was the day when what labor historians widely consider “America’s First Strike” occurred in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A group of the city’s journeymen printers gathered to discuss proposed decreases to their wages. 

June 1 - Fighting for Equality

Would you be willing to risk your job to stand up for the rights that you believe in?  For postal worker Henry Gerber, the answer to that question was a resounding yes.  And so On this day in Labor History, the year was 2001.  

May 31 - Families Washed Away in Johnstown Floods

On this day in Labor History the year was 1889. Nestled in western Pennsylvania was the community known as Johnstown. The town and surrounding area was home to 23,000 people, families of workers who labored in the regions’ booming steel mills. 

May 30 - Blood in the Streets on Memorial Day

On this day in Labor History the year was 1937.  It was a day that would become known as the Memorial Day Massacre. Ten demonstrators were killed by police bullets, while protesting at Republic Steel, on the south east side of Chicago.

May 29 - No Dancing Allowed

On this day in Labor History the year was 1912. That was the day fifteen women lost their jobs for dancing on their lunch break.  The women worked for the Curtis Publishing Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  

May 28 - The 1946 Rochester General Strike

On this day in Labor History the year was 1946. That was the day the working people of New York stood up in true labor solidarity. It all started at stroke midnight on May 15^th as messengers delivered the following statement to 489 municipal employees: 

May 27 - Unconstitutional

On this day in Labor History the year was 1935. That was the day the United States Supreme Court unanimously declared the National Industrial Relations Act unconstitutional.  The act had been passed just two years before, as the centerpiece of President Franklin Roosevelt’s plan to combat the Great Depression. 

May 26 - Battle of the Overpass

Did you know that sometimes photographs have the power to help change the course of a labor struggle?  That is what happened on this day in Labor History, the year was 1937.  Detroit News photographer James “Scotty” Kilpatrick came with his camera to the River Rouge Ford plant.