This week’s Labor History Today podcast: Houston, We Have a Labor Dispute. Last week’s show: Dramatizing The Murals. The Memphis Fire Fighter Strike of 1978.
July 22 Newly unionized brewery workers in San Francisco, mostly German socialists, declare victory after the city’s breweries give in to their demands for free beer, the closed shop, freedom to live anywhere (they had typically been required to live in the breweries), a 10-hour day, six-day week, and a board of arbitration - 1886 July 23 Northern Michigan copper miners strike for union recognition, higher wages and eight-hour day. By the time they threw in the towel the following April, 1,100 had been arrested on various charges and Western Federation of Miners President Charles Moyer had been shot, beaten and forced out of town - 1913 July 24 The United Auto Workers and the Teamsters form the Alliance for Labor Action (ALA), later to be joined by several smaller unions. The ALA's agenda included support of the civil rights movement and opposition to the war in Viet Nam. It disbanded after four years following the death of UAW President Walter Reuther - 1968 July 25 Workers stage a general strike – believed to be the nation’s first – in St. Louis, in support of striking railroad workers. The successful strike was ended when some 3,000 federal troops and 5,000 deputized special police killed at least eighteen people in skirmishes around the city - 1877 July 26 Battle of Mucklow, W.Va. in coal strike. An estimated 100,000 shots were fired; 12 miners and four guards were killed - 1912 - David Prosten click here for complete and latest listings
Union City Radio: 7:15am daily WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report PRO Act Rally | Senator Warner: Wed, July 21, 8:30am – 9:30am Warner | Tyson's Corner District Office, Towers Crescent Drive, Vienna, VA 22182 RSVP HERE Catholic Social Teaching and the PRO Act: Wed, July 21, 2pm – 3pm CLICK TO REGISTER Passing the PRO Act and Building the Next Union Generation: Wed, July 21, 7pm – 8pm FREE; RSVP HERE "That's why I am calling on Congress to pass the PRO Act and send it to my desk, so we can support the right to unionize."
That of course was President Joe Biden, speaking to Congress back in April. The PRO Act has passed the House of Representatives and needs just three more co-sponsors in the U.S. Senate to get it to President Biden’s desk. The labor movement is now focused on four senators, including Democrat Mark Warner of Virginia. This week, the labor movement and its allies across the country are conducting an unprecedented mobilization to win freedom in the workplace by passing the PRO Act, which would give workers—including those in the gig economy—a real right to organize and bargain for better lives and for a better future for our country. On today’s labor calendar, there are three PRO Act events, starting at 8:30 this morning with a rally at Senator Warner’s Tyson's Corner District Office, then at 2 there’s an online event, Catholic Social Teaching and the PRO Act and at 7 tonight, another online event, Passing the PRO Act and Building the Next Union Generation; see Calendar (above) for complete details. The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act is the labor law reform we need to protect workers and unions. If the PRO Act passes in the Senate, President Biden will sign it into law. Please sign the petition to tell your senators that you support unions, working people and the PRO Act! Whether your senators support the PRO Act or not, help us keep up the pressure and make it clear to them that the PRO Act is a priority for working people. Add your name today. Team AFL-CIO |