Today in Labor History

June 20

The American Railway Union, headed by Eugene Debs, is founded in Chicago. In the Pullman strike a year later, the union was defeated by federal injunctions and troops, and Debs was imprisoned for violating the injunctions - 1893

Henry Ford recognizes the United Auto Workers, signs contract for workers at River Rouge plant – 1941
[Contract Bargaining Handbook for Local Union Leaders: This nuts-and-bolts handbook gives union negotiators specific instructions on bargaining for pay, fringes and other terms and conditions of employment. Summaries and checklists guide you through the process as you learn to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of the employer, find your best strike and no-strike alternatives, avoid impasse, use third-party mediation and more. In the UCS bookstore now.]

Striking African American auto workers are attacked by KKK, National Workers League, and armed white workers at Belle Isle amusement park in Detroit. Two days of riots follow, 34 people are killed, more than 1,300 arrested - 1943

The Taft-Hartley Labor Management Relations Act, curbing strikes, is vetoed by President Harry S Truman. The veto was overridden three days later by a Republican-controlled Congress – 1947

Oil began traveling through the Alaska pipeline. Seventy thousand people worked on building the pipeline, history's largest privately-financed construction project – 1977

Evelyn Dubrow, described by the New York Times as organized labor's most prominent lobbyist at the time of its greatest power, dies at age 95. The International Ladies' Garment Workers Union lobbyist once told the Times that "she trudged so many miles around Capitol Hill that she wore out 24 pairs of her Size 4 shoes each year." She retired at age 86 - 2006

 SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.