
Responding to unrest among Irish laborers building the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, President Andrew Jackson orders first use of American troops to suppress a labor dispute - 1834
Six thousand railway workers strike for a union and the end of 18-hour day - 1889
Sit-down strike helps establish United Rubber Workers as a national union, Akron, Ohio - 1936
Dolly Parton hits number one on the record charts with "9 to 5," her anthem to the daily grind - 1981
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is signed into law by President Obama. Ledbetter worked for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. at a wage rate much less than men doing the same job; the statute of limitations for filing a claim of discrimination expired by the time she learned of the unequal treatment. The Fair Pay Act stipulates that the 180-day statute of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination resets with each new paycheck affected by that discriminatory action—2009
photo: Lily Ledbetter; courtesy Tory Burch Foundation