Today in Labor History October 14th, 2022

 

Samuel Gompers

New York City cigar makers struck against pay cuts and repressive factory rules during October. The strike ended in January 1878 with the pay cuts and repressive rules intact. Samuel Gompers, the strike leader, was blacklisted and unable to find work for four months. – 1877

The two-day founding congress of the International Working People’s Association (IWPA) occurred in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania marking the beginning of the anarchist-trade union movement in the US. The congress endorsed “propaganda by the deed”, which included assassinations. In attendance were two of the future Haymarket Martyrs, August Spies and Albert R. Parsons. – 1883

The Seafarers International Union (SIU) was founded as an American Federation of Labor (AFL) alternative to what was the Congress of Industrial Organization’s (CIO) National Maritime Union. SIU was an umbrella organization of 12 autonomous unions of mariners, fishermen and boatmen working on U.S.-flagged vessels. – 1938

Formal construction began on this date on what was expected to be a five-year, $3.9 billion replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge on the Hudson River. It was estimated that the project would employ 8,000 building trades workers over the span of the job. – 2013