Labor History in 2:00

On this day in Labor History, the year was 1968.  This is a day of mourning. Today is the day an assassin’s bullet murdered Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as he was coming out of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. 

On this day in Labor History the year was 1968.  That was the night that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his now famous “I’ve been to the Mountaintop” speech at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee.  He was speaking in support of striking sanitation workers who were members of AFSCME Local 1733.  

When you go shopping, do you remember to look for the union label?  On this day in Labor History the year was 1909. 

The American Federation of Labor launched its “Union Label” department

On this day in Labor History the year was 1929. 

It was the first day of the strike at the Loray textile mill in Gastonia, North Carolina. 

Textile mill workers in the south were paid significantly less than workers in the north

On this day in Labor History the year was 1933.  The nation was in the grips of the Great Depression. Long bread lines formed each day in major cities across the nation with at least one in four people out of work.  The crisis deepened as the Dust Bowl ravaged US farmland crippling farmers and limiting food production. 

The most important word in the language of the working class is ‘solidarity.’” 

Those inspiring words were spoken by labor leader Harry Bridges, who died on this day in Labor History the year was 1990.

On this day in Labor History the year was 1918 and someone was born who would forever change the retail industry in the United States.  His name was Sam Walton. 

Walton opened his first Walmart store in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas.  

This is the day in Memphis that marked Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s final march for Civil Rights. 

If you are a regular listener to Labor History in 2, last month you heard about how AFSCME sanitation workers in Memphis went on strike to win union recognition.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1912. Between six and seven thousand workers walked off the job, on strike against the Canadian Northern Railway.  Their issues included low pay, worker safety, and the poor quality of food and housing provided by the railroad. 

On this day in Labor History the year was 1943.  

The United States was in the midst of fighting World War II. 

And by 1943 there were more than 9 million people serving as military personnel.