Today in Labor History January 31st, 2024

 

Ida M Fuller

12,000 pecan shellers in San Antonio, Texas, walked off their jobs at 400 factories in what would become a three-month strike against wage cuts. The pecan-shelling industry was among the lowest paid in the country; workers made between $2-$3 a week. – 1938

Ida M. Fuller was the first retiree to receive an old-age monthly benefit check under the new Social Security law. She paid in $24.75 between 1937 and 1939 on an income of $2,484; her first check was for $22.54. – 1940

After scoring successes with representation elections conducted under the protective oversight of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board, the United Farm Workers of America officially ended its historic table grape, lettuce and wine boycotts. – 1978

160 gravediggers represented by SEIU Local 106 were locked out after they went on strike against the Cemeteries Association of Greater Chicago over wages and benefits. They reached a contract agreement after 43 days. – 1992

Union and student pressure forced Harvard University to adopt new labor policies raising wages for the lowest-paid workers. – 2002

Five months after Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans school board fired every teacher in the district in what the United Teachers of New Orleans saw as an effort to break the union and privatize the school system. – 2005