Today in Labor History June 8, 2022

 

The first documented labor strike in San Francisco occurred when Chinese laborers demanded a raise while working on the Parrott Block granite building. – 1852

A battle between the Militia and striking miners at Dunnville, Colorado ended with six union members dead and 15 taken prisoner. Seventy-nine of the strikers were deported to Kansas two days later. – 1904

An electrical cable being installed as part of a fire suppression system in the Granite Mountain-Speculator Mine fell into the mineshaft and was accidentally ignited by the assistant foreman’s carbide lamp when he went to inspect it.  The resulting fire killed 168 miners and was the nation’s worst hard-rock mining disaster. – 1917

35,000 members of the Machinists Union begin what was to become a 43-day strike, the largest in airline history, against five carriers. The mechanics and other ground service workers wanted to share in the airlines’ substantial profits. – 1966

New York City drawbridge tenders, in a dispute with the state over pension issues, left a dozen bridges open, snarling traffic in what the Daily News described as “the biggest traffic snafu in the city’s history”. – 1971