Today in Labor History

Hershey Workers hold up sign that says “We shall not be moved C.I.O”

Bread riots occurred in Richmond, Virginia due to a drought the previous year  combined with a blockade by the Union and overall civil war-related shortages. Food riots occurred throughout the South around this time, led primarily by women. During the Richmond riot, women broken into storehouses and shops, stealing food, clothing and jewelry before the militia was able to restore order. – 1863

The Union Label Trades Department was chartered by the American Federation of Labor.  Its mission was to promote the products and services produced in America by union members, especially those products identified by a union label, shop card, store card, and service button. – 1909

The Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a 1918 Washington, D.C. law that established a minimum wage for women. – 1923

More than 600 members of the United Chocolate Workers (CIO) union staged a sit-down strike at the Hershey Chocolate Company in Hershey, Pennsylvania. On April 7, an anti-union crowd of 3,000 stormed the plant and 25 workers were badly beaten in the ensuing battle. In 1939, the workers affiliated with the Bakery and Confectionary Workers Union (AFL). – 1937

Major league baseball players ended a 232-day strike, which began the prior August 12 and led to the cancellation of the 1994 postseason and the World Series. – 1995

Canadian and American trade unionists rallied at the international border between British Columbia and Washington to show their solidarity with public sector workers in Wisconsin facing attacks by that state’s government. The action was organized in conjunction with hundreds of other We Are One rallies that took place throughout North America. – 2011

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