A daily, pocket-sized history of America's working people, brought to you by The Rick Smith Show team.
Episodes
Thursday Oct 15, 2015
Thursday Oct 15, 2015
On this day in Labor History, the year was 1914. That was the day that President Woodrow Wilson signed the Clayton Antitrust Act. The act also became known as Labor’s “Magna Carta.”
Wednesday Oct 14, 2015
Wednesday Oct 14, 2015
On this day in Labor History, the year was 1933. That was the day the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor decided to call for a boycott of Nazi Germany’s goods and services. Jewish labor leaders in the United States led the push for the boycott.
Tuesday Oct 13, 2015
Tuesday Oct 13, 2015
On this day in Labor History, the year was 2000. That was the day the newspaper carriers for the San Jose Mercury News ended their walkout. Eighty percent of the newspaper carriers were Vietnamese immigrants to the United States. Many were elderly, or recent immigrants with families.
Monday Oct 12, 2015
Monday Oct 12, 2015
“Bury me with my boys in Mt. Olive, and let no traitor draw breath over my grave.” Such was the last wish of labor leader Mother Jones. She wanted her final resting to place to be alongside the coal miners who gave their lives in the struggle to bring fair wages and a safe working environment to Virden, Illinois.
Sunday Oct 11, 2015
Sunday Oct 11, 2015
On this day in Labor History the year was 1936. 50,000 people gathered in the small town of Mount Olive, in southern Illinois. They had come to commemorate a new memorial to renowned labor leader Mother Jones and the honor mine workers who had lost their lives. Five special trains and twenty-five Greyhound buses helped bring the crowd to the Union Miners Cemetery.
Saturday Oct 10, 2015
Saturday Oct 10, 2015
On this day in Labor History the year was 1933. That was the day that forty armed cotton growers shot at a group of striking workers in the small town of Pixley, California. That year a wave of labor unrest had swept through the fields of California’s agriculture industry. Nearly 50,000 workers participated in strikes throughout the year.
Friday Oct 09, 2015
Friday Oct 09, 2015
On this day in Labor History the year was 1888. That was the day that the United Hebrew Trades was founded in New York City. The new effort was patterned after the United German Trades. The goal was to organize Yiddish speaking workers.
Thursday Oct 08, 2015
Thursday Oct 08, 2015
On this day in Labor History the year was 1986. Female flight attendants won an important legal victory. Can you imagine losing your job because you decided to get married? It might have happened if you were a flight attendant working in the mid-Twentieth century.
Wednesday Oct 07, 2015
Wednesday Oct 07, 2015
On this day in Labor History the year was 1879. The man who came to be known as Joe Hill was born Joel Emmanuel Hagglund in Gavle, Sweden. Hill traveled the United States organizing for the grassroots labor organization the Industrial Workers of the World.
Tuesday Oct 06, 2015
Tuesday Oct 06, 2015
On this day in Labor History the year was 1996 fifteen thousand workers at the General Motors Plant in Quebec walked off the job. Members of the Canadian Auto Workers union were frustrated with their wages. They were also angry about layoffs and GM’s moves to outsource some of the auto production to non-unionized labor.