Today's Labor History

​Click here to check out this week's Labor History Today podcast. Professor Jim Gregory on his innovative project to map American social movements online. Georgetown labor history professor Joe McCartin joins hosts Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant on a show originally broadcast on Labor Day 2019 on WPFW 89.3FM. The project, Gregory says, “allows us to see where social movements were active and where not, helping us better understand patterns of influence and endurance.”

Oct 4
Work begins on the carving of Mt. Rushmore, a task 400 craftsmen would eventually complete in 1941. Despite the dangerous nature of the project, not one worker died - 1927

President Truman orders the U.S. Navy to seize oil refineries, breaking a 20-state post-war strike - 1945

Oct 5
A strike by set decorators turns into a bloody riot at the gates of Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, Calif. when scabs try to cross the picket line. The incident is still identified as "Hollywood Black Friday" and "The Battle of Burbank" - 1945

The UAW ends a three-week strike against Ford Motor Co. when the company agrees to a contract that includes more vacation days and better retirement and unemployment benefits - 1976

Polish Solidarity union founder Lech Walesa wins the Nobel Peace Prize - 1983

2,100 supermarket janitors in California, mostly from Mexico, win a $22.4 million settlement over unpaid overtime. Many said they worked 70 or more hours a week, often seven nights a week from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. Cleaner Jesus Lopez told the New York Times he only had three days off in five years - 2004

Oct 6
First National Conference of Trade Union Women - 1918

1,700 female flight attendants win 18-year, $37 million suit against United Airlines. They had been fired for getting married - 1986

Thirty-two thousand machinists begin what is to be a successful 69-day strike against the Boeing Co. The eventual settlement brought improvements that averaged an estimated $19,200 in wages and benefits over four years and safeguards against job cutbacks - 1995

Labor history courtesy David Prosten

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