Today in Labor History May 8th, 7th, and 6th

 

A. Philip Randolph

The American Federation of Teachers was founded. – 1916

Jerry Wurf, who served as president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) from 1964 to his death in 1981, was born in New York City. The union grew from about 220,000 members to more than 1 million during his presidency. – 1919

A. Philip Randolph and Milton P. Webster founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. The Brotherhood was the very first African-American labor union to sign a collective bargaining agreement with a major U.S. corporation. – 1925

About 200 construction workers in New York City attacked a crowd of Vietnam war protesters four days after the Kent State killings. More than 70 people were injured, including four police officers. Peter Brennan, head of the New York building trades, was honored at the Nixon White House two weeks later and was eventually named Secretary of Labor. – 1970

Some 12,000 Steelworker-represented workers at Goodyear Tire & Rubber won an 18-day strike for improved wages and job security. – 1997

Today in Labor History May 7th

 Bloody Tuesday – San Francisco

The Knights of St. Crispin union was formed at a secret meeting in Milwaukee. It grew to 50,000 members before being crushed by employers later that year. – 1867

Bloody Tuesday occurred in San Francisco. The Street Carmen were among the most militant workers in San Francisco, a city that had one of the most organized and militant labor movements in the country in those days. The mayor, Eugene Schmitz, and two city supervisors were from the Union Labor Party. San Francisco workers, particularly the Carmen’s union, had struck in five of the six years from 1902 to 1907. Capitalists were starting to get sick of the power of the San Francisco unions and wanted to put a stop to them once and for all. Led by Rudolph Spreckels (the sugar magnate), they hired the Burns Detective agency and started by exposing Schmitz’ corruption as well as that of the Board of Supervisors. The corruption scandals dealt a serious blow to the unions’ political power, as their allies were up to their necks in legal troubles.  The violence occurred when strikebreakers tried to run the streetcars, resulting in an exchange of gunfire between union carmen and scabs where two died and 20 were injured.  Over the course of the strike, two dozen people died in accidents on the system while it was run by scab labor and an estimated 900+ others were injured. – 1907

The Hotel Workers Industrial Union struck New York City’s finest hotels and restaurants, including the Waldorf and Astoria hotels and the Plaza. – 1912

Philadelphia’s longest transit strike ended after 44 days. A key issue in the fight was the hiring and use of part-timers. – 1977

Today in Labor History May 6th

Works Progress Administration (WPA) established at a cost of $4.8 billion—more than $80 billion in 2015 dollars—to provide work opportunities for millions during the Great Depression - 1935

Four hundred Black women working as tobacco stemmers walk off the job in a spontaneous revolt against poor working conditions and a $3 weekly wage at the Vaughan Co. in Richmond, Va. - 1937