Labor History in 2:00

April 23 - The Canadian Labour Congress is Founded

On this day in Labor History the year was 1956. That was the day of the founding of the Canadian Labour Congress.  Today the Canadian Labour Congress is the largest labor organization in Canada representing some 3.3 million workers.  During the early 1950s, labor leaders in Canada were becoming increasingly uneasy about the rising influence of big business in the country.

April 22 - It’s Earth Day

On this day in Labor History the year was 1970. That was the first observation of Earth Day.  Across the United States, millions took to the streets and parks to demonstrate for clean air, water, a reduction in pollution and care for nature and the environment.  

April 21 - The Anaconda Road Massacre

On this day in Labor History the year was 1920.  That was the day remembered in Butte, Montana as “Bloody Wednesday” or the “Anaconda Road Massacre.”  Butte was in the heart of copper mining country.  

April 20 - The Bravest of Conductors

On this day in Labor History the year was 1853.  That was the day that Harriet Tubman led her first trip on the underground railroad, the clandestine network that helped enslaved people escape slavery and move north to freedom.  One of the most remembered ‘conductors’ on the railroad, Tubman had herself escaped slavery in eastern Maryland.  

April 19 - Terrorists Bomb Oklahoma City

This marks the day one of the most horrendous acts of domestic terrorism in U.S. History occurred in Oklahoma City. 

A truck bomb exploded at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building killing 168 people. 

April 18 - Labor’s First Lawyer

On this day in Labor History the year was 1857. That was the day that Clarence Darrow was born in Kinsman, Ohio.  Darrow was perhaps the original U.S. labor lawyer.  Known to be a friend to underdogs, Darrow once supposedly said, “Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for.”

April 17 - The 1912 Siberian Gold Mine Massacre

On this day in Labor History the year was 1912. That a day of tragedy for workers in the goldfields of Siberia.  Gold miners by the Lena River in Southeast Siberia worked under brutal conditions. The Lena Gold Mining Joint Stock Company ran the mining operation. The lucrative gold fields lined the pockets of shareholders, including Russian aristocracy and British industrialists.  

April 16 - Another Day in the Class War

On this day in Labor History the year was 2000. That was the beginning of a two-day rally in Washington D.C to protest the gathering of world leaders for the World Bank and The International Monetary Fund or what is known as the A-16 summit. The event was a continuation of the massive protest that disrupted the World Trade Organization’s meeting the year before in Seattle, Washington.  

April 15 - The American Federation of Teachers is Founded

On this day in Labor History the year was 1916. That was day that the American Federation of Teachers was founded at a meeting at the City Club in downtown Chicago. Three Chicago teachers groups helped to organize the meeting. They were convinced that in order to improve working conditions for teachers they would need to formally join the labor movement.  

April 14 - Agricultural Workers Risk Everything to Organize

On this day in Labor History the year was 1930. That was the day that 114 agricultural laborers in California’s Imperial Valley paid a harsh price for joining together to try to improve their working conditions. The Great Depression was worsening the already difficult conditions faced by California farm laborers.