Today in Labor History August 30, 2020

 

Luisa Moreno

Union delegates from New York, Boston, Philadelphia and other East Coast cities met in a convention to form the National Trades’ Union, which united craft unions to oppose “the most unequal and unjustifiable distribution of the wealth of society in the hands of a few individuals”. The union faded after a few years but paved the way for more than 60 new unions. – 1834

Luisa Morena, labor and social activist was born, The National Trades Union was created, FDR's Revenue Act of 1935 taxed the rich, and OSHA added scaffold safety standards.CLICK TO TWEET

Luisa Moreno, labor and social activist was born today. A Guatemalan immigrant, she started organizing while working in a cafeteria in New York in the 1930s.   She spent  20 years organizing workers before taking a “voluntary departure under and warrant of deportation” on the grounds that she had once been a member of the Communist party. She was offered citizenship in exchange for testifying against a labor leader, but she refused, stating that she would not be “a free woman with a mortgaged soul.” – 1907

President Franklin Roosevelt’s Revenue Act of 1935 (often called the “Wealth Tax Act”)  increased taxes on higher income levels. It was a progressive tax that took up to 75 percent of the highest incomes. – 1935

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) published scaffold safety standards, designed to protect 2.3 million construction workers and prevent 50 deaths and 4,500 injuries annually. – 1996

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