Friday, June 27, 2014

Today in Labor History

2014.06.23history-emma-goldman-mugshotEmma Goldman, women's rights activist and radical, born in Lithuania. She came to the U.S. at age 17 - 1869

The Industrial Workers of the World, also known as the "Wobblies," is founded at a 12-day-long convention in Chicago. The Wobbly motto: "An injury to one is an injury to all." - 1905
Congress passes the National Labor Relations Act, creating the structure for collective bargaining in the United States - 1935
A 26-day strike of New York City hotels by 26,000 workers—the first such walkout in 50 years—ends with a 5-year contract calling for big wage and benefit gains - 19852014.06.23history-powerunion
(There is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America: This sympathetic, thoughtful and highly readable history of the American labor movement traces unionism from the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1820s to organized labor’s struggles in the 1980s and the challenges that unions must confront today.  Illustrated with dozens of photos.)
A.E. Staley locks out 763 workers in Decatur, Ill. The lockout was to last two and one-half years - 1993

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