 This week’s Labor History Today: Organizing through the Divide
Author and historian Peter Rachleff and longtime labor educator and organizer Bill Fletcher Jr. explore labor’s connections to Richmond’s Robert E. Lee statue. PLus: A union-made Halloween. Contributors: Race Capitol podcast; Labor History in 2. Last week’s show: O Canada, organize! 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 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 - David Prosten; Battle of Burbank photo by Andrew H. Arnott / Los Angeles Times Archive / UCLA) Comments are closed.
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