Today's Labor History

This week’s Labor History Today podcast: Minneapolis general strike; “Mongrel Firebugs and Men of Property”
Political scientist and historian Michael Munk connects what’s going on in Minneapolis today with the general strike that took place there in 1934. Plus: Steve Fraser, author of the new book “Mongrel Firebugs and Men of Property: Capitalism and Class Conflict in American History”; With the AFL-CIO car caravans originally planned for this Wednesday (now postponed) to demand swift action on the pending Heroes bill in Congress to help American workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Meany Archives Ben Blake reveals that the labor movement has used this technique effectively in the past. The latest episode of the “En Masse” podcast takes us inside the New England quarries nearly a century ago, and we celebrate the life of Rosie the Riveter.
Last week’s show: “Politics of the Pantry”; “We Just Come to Work Here”

Massachusetts becomes the first state to establish a minimum wage - 1912

The House of Representatives approves the Taft-Hartley Act. The legislation allows the President of the United States to intervene in labor disputes. President Truman vetoed the law but was overridden by Congress - 1947

The AFL-CIO opens its new headquarters building, in view of the White House - 1956 (photo shows detail from the building)

Gov. Jerry Brown signs the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, the first law in the U.S. giving farmworkers collective bargaining rights. The legislation came after years of effort by the United Farm Workers union - 1975

- David Prosten

---