Today in Labor History August 8 & 9 2022

 The Great Railway Strike

The Knights of Labor went on strike at the New York Central railroad, ultimately to be defeated by scabbing. – 1890

Nine men and one woman, custodians who saw the need to gain protections for themselves and other classified employees,  met in Oakland, Calif. to form what was to become the 230,000-member California School Employees Association, representing school support staff throughout the state. – 1927

The United Papermakers & Paperworkers merged with the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite & Paper Mill Workers of the US & Canada to become the United Paperworkers International Union, now a division of the Steelworkers Union. – 1972

A 58-hour walkout by 73,000 Bell Atlantic workers from 13 states ended in victory. – 1998

Today in Labor History August 8 2022

Cesar Chavez

Delegates to the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly elected 35-year-old Charles James, leader of the Boot and Shoe Workers’ local union, as their president. He was the first African-American elected to that leadership post in St. Paul, and, many believe, the first anywhere in the nation. – 1902

The Cripple Creek, Colorado miners strike began. – 1903

The Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher Workmen of North America merge with the Retail Clerks International Union to become United Food & Commercial Workers. – 1979

Cesar Chavez was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton, becoming the first Mexican-American ever to receive the honor. Chavez co-founded the Nation Farm Workers Association (later the United Farm Workers union, UFW) in 1962. His public-relations approach to unionism and aggressive but nonviolent tactics made the farm workers’ struggle a moral cause with nationwide support. – 1994