Today in Labor History May 25, 2023

 

Remington Rand strike

Pressured by employers, striking shoemakers in Philadelphia were arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy for violating an English common law that barred schemes aimed at forcing wage increases. The strike was broken. – 1805

The U.S. slave trade was abolished. – 1807

Philip Murray was born in Scotland. He went on to emigrate to the U.S., become the founder and first president of the United Steelworkers of America, and head of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) from 1940 until his death in 1952. – 1886

Two company houses occupied by scab coal miners were blown up and destroyed during a strike against the Glendale Gas & Coal Company in Wheeling, West Virginia. – 1925

Thousands of unemployed WWI veterans arrived in Washington, D.C. to demand a bonus they had been promised but never received. They built a shantytown near the U.S. Capital but were burned out by U.S. troops after two months. – 1932

The notorious 11-month Remington Rand strike began. The strike spawned the “Mohawk Valley (NY) formula,” described by investigators as a corporate plan to discredit union leaders, frighten the public with the threat of violence, employ thugs to beat up strikers, and other tactics. The National Labor Relations Board termed the formula “a battle plan for industrial war.” – 1936

The railroad strike was settled with terms imposed by President Harry Truman. – 1946

The AFL-CIO began what was to become an unsuccessful campaign for a 35-hour workweek, with the goal of reducing unemployment. Earlier tries by organized labor for 32- or 35-hour weeks also failed. – 1962