Labor History in 2:00

January 1 - The Emancipation Proclamation

Today in labor history, January 1, 1963, is one of the most often misunderstood days in United States history.  This was the day that Abraham Lincoln issued the “Emancipation Proclamation.”  But did you know that Emancipation Proclamation did not actually free enslaved people in the U.S.? 

December 31 - The First to Enter Ellis Island

On this day in labor history the year was 1891. That was the day that an Irish teenager by the name of Annie Moore arrived on the shores of New York. She was travelling with her two younger brothers. They had taken a twelve-day sea voyage to be reunited with their parents, who were already in New York City.  

December 30 - Railway Clerks Organize

On this day in labor history the year was 1899.  That was the day that a group of thirty-three railway clerks gathered in the back room of Behrens’ cigar shop in Sedalia, Missouri.  They called themselves the Order of Railway Clerks in America. They affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.  

December 29 - Pushing Back Against Plant Closures

On this day in labor history the year was 2006. That was the day that United Steelworker members ended a nearly three-month strike against the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. The strike involved nearly 15,000 workers from sixteen different plants across the United States and Canada. 

December 28 - Sit-Down Solidarity

On this day in labor history the year was 1936. That was the day that at 2pm  in the afternoon, 200 workers at the Fisher Body Ohio Company on the East side of Cleveland sat down on the job. Fisher was located in Cleveland’s Collinwoodneighborhood. 

December 27 - FDR Takes Over the Rails

On this day in labor history the year was 1943. That was the day that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt seized control of the nation’s railroads to avert a strike. The nation was in the midst of World War II.  

December 26 - A Rude Awakening

On this day in labor history the year was 1996. That was the day that working people of South Korea awoke to some alarming news. That morning the country’s new ruling party had passed a new set of labor laws.  The new policies had been implemented at an unscheduled morning meeting.  

December 25 - And So This is Christmas?

On this day in labor history the year was 2001. That was the year that the spirit of Christmas must have seemed very far away from some of the workers who harvested Christmas Trees in the United States. Many of these workers come from Mexico and Central American countries. They come for the harvest as guest workers. 

December 24 - A Very Tragic Christmas

On this day in labor history the year was 1913. That tragic Christmas Eve, came to be known as the Italian Hall Disaster in Calumet, Michigan. A Christmas party was being held for children of striking copper miners.  

December 23 - The Right to Boycott

On this day in labor history the year was 1908. That was the day that three leaders of the American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers, John Mitchell, and Frank Morrison, were sentenced to jail terms for calling for a Boycott against Bucks Stove & Range.