Metro Washington Council AFL-CIO
  • Home
  • Take Action Now!
  • Calendar
  • Programs
    • Community Services >
      • Espanol
      • Mission
      • Donate Now
      • Programs
      • Funders
      • Archives
    • Political Action >
      • Archive
      • Mission
      • Elected Officials
      • Endorsements
      • Candidate Questionnaires: Archive 2006-2014 >
        • 2018
        • 2016
        • 2015
        • 2014
        • Other
        • 2012
        • 2010
        • 2008
        • 2007
        • 2006
    • Unemployment Help
    • Hiring Hall >
      • ADMINISTRATIVE
      • COMMUNICATIONS
      • INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
      • INTERNSHIPS
      • LEGAL
      • MISC
      • ORGANIZING
      • POLITICAL
      • RESEARCH
  • Union City Radio
  • About Us
    • Leaders & Staff
  • Union City News
  • Affiliates
  • DC LaborFest
    • Archive >
      • 2022 Events
      • 2021 Films
      • 2021 Other
      • 2020 Films
      • 2019
      • Films (AFI) 2019
      • Films (other) 2019
      • Music 2019
      • History (2019)
      • Art (2019)
      • Other: Fashion show, Soccer, Solidarity Awards, Trivia (2019)
      • Radio/Podcasts
      • 2018
      • Other events
      • Films (AFI) 2018
      • Films (other) 2018
      • Music (2018)
      • History (2018)
      • Art (2018)
      • Other: Marx, whiskey, pub trivia & radio (2018)
      • 2017 >
        • Films (AFI)
        • Films (other)
        • Music
        • History
        • Art
        • Other: Soccer, Whiskey, Theater
      • 2016 >
        • Films (AFI)
        • Films (other)
        • Music
        • History & Art
        • Soccer, Poetry
      • 2015
      • 2014
  • Affiliate Social Media
  • Allies Social Media
  • Constituency Group Social Media
  • Union Shop
  • Evening With Labor
    • Archive
    • 2019 Evening With Labor
    • 2018 Evening With Labor
    • 2017 Evening With Labor
    • 2016 Evening With Labor
    • 2015 Evening With Labor
  • Home
  • Take Action Now!
  • Calendar
  • Programs
    • Community Services >
      • Espanol
      • Mission
      • Donate Now
      • Programs
      • Funders
      • Archives
    • Political Action >
      • Archive
      • Mission
      • Elected Officials
      • Endorsements
      • Candidate Questionnaires: Archive 2006-2014 >
        • 2018
        • 2016
        • 2015
        • 2014
        • Other
        • 2012
        • 2010
        • 2008
        • 2007
        • 2006
    • Unemployment Help
    • Hiring Hall >
      • ADMINISTRATIVE
      • COMMUNICATIONS
      • INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
      • INTERNSHIPS
      • LEGAL
      • MISC
      • ORGANIZING
      • POLITICAL
      • RESEARCH
  • Union City Radio
  • About Us
    • Leaders & Staff
  • Union City News
  • Affiliates
  • DC LaborFest
    • Archive >
      • 2022 Events
      • 2021 Films
      • 2021 Other
      • 2020 Films
      • 2019
      • Films (AFI) 2019
      • Films (other) 2019
      • Music 2019
      • History (2019)
      • Art (2019)
      • Other: Fashion show, Soccer, Solidarity Awards, Trivia (2019)
      • Radio/Podcasts
      • 2018
      • Other events
      • Films (AFI) 2018
      • Films (other) 2018
      • Music (2018)
      • History (2018)
      • Art (2018)
      • Other: Marx, whiskey, pub trivia & radio (2018)
      • 2017 >
        • Films (AFI)
        • Films (other)
        • Music
        • History
        • Art
        • Other: Soccer, Whiskey, Theater
      • 2016 >
        • Films (AFI)
        • Films (other)
        • Music
        • History & Art
        • Soccer, Poetry
      • 2015
      • 2014
  • Affiliate Social Media
  • Allies Social Media
  • Constituency Group Social Media
  • Union Shop
  • Evening With Labor
    • Archive
    • 2019 Evening With Labor
    • 2018 Evening With Labor
    • 2017 Evening With Labor
    • 2016 Evening With Labor
    • 2015 Evening With Labor

Today's Labor History

2/9/2018

 
Click here to check out this week's Today in Labor History, a new podcast produced by Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. Be a part of the podcast by calling in, just pick an event from this list and leave a voicemail.

February 09
Wobbly activist Tom Mooney convicted in bombing frame-up orchestrated by Pinkerton Detective Agency. He was pardoned and released 22 years later - 1917
 
Congress approves legislation allowing for a total of $940 million to be used for Depression-era relief projects. $790 million of this money was intended to be used to fund work relief and flood recovery programs - 1937
 
U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy falsely charged that the State Department was riddled with Communists. It seems that just about everyone else the Wisconsin senator didn’t like was a Communist as well, including scores of unionists. This was the beginning of "McCarthyism." He ultimately was officially condemned by the Senate and died of alcoholism - 1950
 
President Kennedy asks Congress to approve creation of the Medicare program, financed by an increase in Social Security taxes, to aid 14.2 million Americans aged 65 or older - 1961
 
Some 19,000 Boeing engineers and technical workers in Washington state and Oregon begin what is to become a 40-day strike over economic issues - 2000
 
February 10
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) founds the Building and Construction Trades Department as a way to overcome the jurisdictional conflicts occurring in the building and construction unions - 1908

Eleven members of the Carpenters’ union in Reesor Siding, Northern Ontario are shot, three fatally, by independent local farmer-settlers who were supplying wood to a Spruce Falls Power and Paper Co. plant. Some 400 union members were attempting to block an outbound shipment from the plant. The action came as the company was insisting on a pay freeze and two months of seven-day-a-week work - 1963
 
Forty workers are killed on Staten Island, N.Y., when a huge storage tank filled with liquefied gas explodes - 1973
 
February 11
Five hundred Japanese and 200 Mexican laborers unite to fight the labor contractor responsible for hiring at the American Beet Sugar Co. in Oxnard, Calif. They ultimately win higher wages and the right to shop at stores not owned by the company - 1903
 
Mary Harris “Mother” Jones is arrested while leading a protest of conditions in West Virginia mines. She was 83 years old at the time - 1913

Fifteen thousand rubber workers strike in Akron, Ohio, protesting speed-up - 1913
 
The Seattle General Strike ends after six days. Some 65,000 workers struck for higher pay after two years of World War I wage controls - 1919
 
“White Shirt Day” at UAW-represented GM plants.  Union members are encouraged to wear white shirts, marking the anniversary of the 1936-1937 Flint sit-down strike that gave the union bargaining rights at the automaker. The mission: send a message that “blue collar” workers deserve the same respect as their management counterparts.  One of the day’s traditional rules: Don’t get your shirt any dirtier than the boss gets his.  The 44-day strike was won in 1937 but the tradition didn’t begin until 1948, at the suggestion of Local 598 member Bert Christenson - 1948
 
Some 1,300 sanitation workers begin what is to become a 64-day strike in Memphis, ultimately winning union recognition and wage increases. The April 4 assassination in Memphis of Martin Luther King Jr., who had been taking an active role in mass meetings and street actions, brought pressure on the city to settle the strike - 1968
(People forget that Dr. King was every bit as committed to economic justice as he was to ending racial segregation. He fought throughout his life to connect the labor and civil rights movements, envisioning them as twin pillars for social reform. All Labor Has Dignity is a collection of King's speeches on labor rights and economic justice that underscore his relevance for today. They help us imagine King anew: as a human rights leader whose commitment to unions and an end to poverty was a crucial part of his civil rights agenda.)
 
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announces he will call out the National Guard, if necessary, to deal with any "unrest" among state employees in the wake of his decision to unilaterally end nearly all collective bargaining rights for the workers - 2011

Compiled/edited by Union Communication Services

Comments are closed.

    2022
    ENDORSEMENTS

    Tweets by @DCLabor

    COVID RESOURCES

    COMMUNITY SERVICES

    EN ESPANOL

    UNEMPLOYMENT HELP

    LEGISLATIVE UPDATES


    ​Leaders & Staff

    AFFILIATES

    AFFILIATE Social Media

    HIRING HALL

    Evening with Labor

    Union City News

    UNION SHOP

    DC LABOR MAP

    Documents

    Constitution

    2022 MWC Election

    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

Share any story to Facebook, Twitter or via email!
Just click on the story
​and then click on the appropriate social media icon at right!
COPYRIGHT METRO WASHINGTON LABOR COUNCIL AFL-CIO 2022
202-974-8150; [email protected]