Today's Labor History

​Click here to check out this week's Labor History Today podcast. On this week’s show: Martin Luther King, Jr. on the dignity of labor, labor historian Erik Loomis on “A History of America in Ten Strikes,” plus the 1913 Rochester strike by 10,000 clothing workers, Bill Fletcher remembers the 2000 police attack on picketing longshoremen in Charleston, South Carolina, and a rare speech by Dr. King for “Cool things from the George Meany Labor Archives.”

January 25
Sojourner Truth addresses first Black Women’s Rights convention - 1851

The Sheet Metal Workers Int'l Association (SMWIA) is founded in Toledo, Ohio, as the Tin, Sheet Iron and Cornice Workers’ Int’l Association - 1888

Two hundred miners are killed in a horrific explosion at the Harwick mine in Cheswick, Pa., Allegheny County. Many of the dead lie entombed in the sealed mine to this day - 1904

The Supreme Court upholds “Yellow Dog” employment contracts, which forbid membership in labor unions. Yellow Dog contracts remained legal until 1932 - 1915

Some 16,000 textile workers strike in Passaic, N.J. – 1926
The federal minimum wage rate rises to 75 cents an hour - 1950

January 26
In what could be considered the first workers’ compensation agreement in America, pirate Henry Morgan pledges his underlings 600 pieces of eight or six slaves to compensate for a lost arm or leg. Also part of the pirate’s code, reports Roger Newell: shares of the booty were equal regardless of race or sex, and shipboard decisions were made collectively - 1695

Samuel Gompers, first AFL president, born in London, England. He emigrated to the U.S. as a youth - 1850

The Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America is chartered by the American Federation of Labor to organize "every wage earner from the man who takes the bullock at the house until it goes into the hands of the consumer." - 1897

Workers win a two-day sit-down strike at the Brooklyn electric plant that powers the city's entire subway system - 1937

A handful of American companies announce nearly 60,000 layoffs today, as the recession that began during the George W. Bush presidency charges full-tilt toward what became known as the Great Recession - 2009

January 27
New York City maids organize to improve working conditions - 1734
Mine explosion in Mount Pleasant, Pa., leaves more than 100 dead - 1891

First meeting of the Int’l Labor Organization (ILO) - 1920

Kansas miners strike against compulsory arbitration - 1920

A 3¢ postage stamp is issued, honoring AFL founder Samuel Gompers - 1950
 
A group of Detroit African-American auto workers known as the Eldon Avenue Axle Plant Revolutionary Union Movement (photo) leads a wildcat strike against racism and bad working conditions. They are critical of both automakers and the UAW, condemning the seniority system and grievance procedures as racist – 1969
 
Pete Seeger dies in New York at age 94. A musician and activist, he was a revered figure on the American left, persecuted during the McCarthy era for his support of progressive, labor and civil rights causes. A prolific songwriter, he is generally credited with popularizing the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.” He actively participated in demonstrations until shortly before his death – 2014

Members of the Northwestern University football team announce they are seeking union recognition. A majority signed cards, later delivered to the National Labor Relations Board office in Chicago, asking for representation by the College Athletes Players Association - 2014

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