Today in Labor History

The Edmund Fitzgerald

Chicago Haymarket martyr Louis Lingg, 22, “cheated” the state the day before his scheduled execution by committing suicide in his prison cell by exploding a dynamite cap in his mouth. – 1887

Members of the Independent Union of All Workers occupied the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota, in what may have been the first sit-down strike. Workers occupied the plant for three days, demanding a raise. Unable to open the blockaded plant, Hormel accepted binding arbitration and the workers received a ten percent wage increase. The agreement was brokered by Governor Floyd B. Olson. – 1933

The ship Edmund Fitzgerald, the biggest carrier on the Great Lakes, and crew of 29 were lost in a storm on Lake Superior while carrying ore from Superior, Wisconsin to Detroit. The cause of the sinking was never established. – 1975

The Tile, Marble, Terrazzo Finishers, Shop Workers & Granite Cutters International Union merged into the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners – 1988

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