Today in Labor History

May 29  --  Union Communications Services, Inc.

Animators working for Walt Disney begin what was to become a successful 5-week strike for recognition of their union, the Screen Cartoonists' Guild. The animated feature Dumbo was being created at the time and, according to Wikipedia, a number of strikers are caricatured in the feature as clowns who go to "hit the big boss for a raise" - 1941

(Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions: This is the book for you if your interests include one of the following: Animated features like The Simpsons, The Lion King or the Mickey Mouse cartoons; What it’s like to work as a creative artist in Hollywood; What an absolute, anti-union jerk Walt Disney was—as are so many of today’s Hollywood titans. Author Tom Sito is an animator and director who served for five years as president of The Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists. Today he is an adjunct professor in the television and cinema departments at the University of Southern California and at the University of California at Los Angeles. Named one of the most important people in animation, his screen credits include Beauty and the Beast, Shrek, and The Lion King.)

A contract between the United Mine Workers and the U.S. government establishes one of the nation's first union medical and pension plans, the multi-employer UMWA Welfare and Retirement Fund - 1946

The United Farm Workers of America reaches agreement with Bruce Church Inc. on a contract for 450 lettuce harvesters, ending a 17-year-long boycott. The pact raised wages, provided company-paid health benefits to workers and their families, created a seniority system to deal with seasonal layoffs and recalls, and established a pesticide monitoring system - 1996