Encyclopedia > Timeline of Labor unions in the United States
Labor History Timeline for 1806-1986 1800s - 1810s - 1820s - 1830s - 1840s - 1850s - 1860s - 1870s - 1880s - 1890s 1900s - 1910s - 1920s - 1930s - 1940s - 1950s - 1960s - 1970s - 1980s - 1990s - 2000s
1800s
1806 The 1806 Commonwealth vs. Pullis case was the first reported case arising from a labor strike in the United States. After a three day trial, the jury found the defendants guilty of “a combination to raise their wages”. Commonwealth vs. ...
1820s
1825 27 April 1825
Carpenters in Boston were the first to stage a strike for the 10-hour work-day.
1830s
1835 3 July 1835
Children employed in the silk mills in Paterson, New Jersey went on strike for the 11 hour day, 6 days a week. The skyline of Paterson, New Jersey, showing the canyon of the Passaic River in the foreground. ...
1840s
1842 March 1842
Commonwealth v. Hunt was a landmark legal decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw ruled that unions were legal organizations and had the right to organize and strike. on the subject of labor unions. Before this decision, labor unions which attempted to 'close' or create an unionized workplace could be charged with conspiracy. See Commonwealth vs. Pullis Commonwealth v. ...
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the United States commonwealth of Massachusetts. ...
Commonwealth vs. ...
1850s
1851 July
Two railroad strikers were shot dead and others injured by the state militia in Portgage, New York.
1860s
1860 800 women operatives and 4,000 workmen marched during a shoemaker's strike in Lynn, Massachusetts. Lynn is a city located in Essex County, Massachusetts. ...
1870s
1874 13 January 1874
The original Tompkins Square Riot. As unemployed workers demonstrated in New York's Tompkins Square Park, a detachment of mounted police charged into the crowd, beating men, women and children indiscriminately with billy clubs and leaving hundreds of casualties in their wake.
Commented Abram Duryee, the Commissioner of Police: "It was the most glorious sight I ever saw..."
1877 12 February 1877 Great Railroad Strike U.S. railroad workers began strikes to protest wage cuts.[1] Since the building of railroads they were the advance agents of industrialism, opening a national market for the first time and themselves providing a market for iron, steel, coal, and the products of related industries. ...
21 June 1877
Ten coal-mining activists ("Molly Maguires") were hanged in Pennsylvania. Location of the counties of the Molly Maguires, in northeaastern Pennsylvania The Molly Maguires were a clandestine society of Irish miners who were engaged in a violent confrontation against the anthracite, or hard coal mining companies in the 19th century. ...
14 July 1877
A general strike halted the movement of U.S. railroads. In the following days, strike riots spread across the United States. The next week, federal troops were called out to force an end to the nationwide strike. At the "Battle of the Viaduct" in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, between protesting members of the Chicago German Furniture Workers Union, now Local 1784 of the Carpenters Union, and federal troops (recently returned from an Indian massacre) killed 30 workers and wounded over 100.
1880s
1882 5 September 1882
Thirty thousand workers marched in the first Labor Day parade in New York City. Labour Day (or Labor Day) is an annual holiday that resulted from efforts of the labour union movement, to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. ...
1884 The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, forerunner of the AFL, passed a resolution stating that "8 hours shall constitute a legal day's work from and after May 1, 1886." The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions was the immediate predecessor of the American Federation of Labor. ...
1886 1 May 1886 Workers protested in the streets to demand the universal adoption of the eight hour day. Hundreds of thousands of American workers had joined the Knights of Labor. Eight-hour day banner, Melbourne, 1856 The Eight-hour day movement, also known as the Short-time movement, had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. ...
Knights of Labor seal The Knights of Labor was a labor union founded in secrecy in December 1869, by a group of Philadelphia tailors led by Uriah S. Stephens. ...
1 May 1886
Bay View Massacre
About 2,000 Polish workers walked off their jobs and gathered at St. Stanislaus Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, angrily denouncing the ten hour workday. The protestors marched through the city, calling on other workers to join them. All but one factory was closed down as sixteen thousand protesters gathered at Rolling Mills. Wisconsin Governor Jeremiah Rusk called the state militia. The militia camped out at the mill while workers slept in nearby fields. On the morning of May 5th, as protesters chanted for the eight hour workday, General Treaumer ordered his men to shoot into the crowd, some of whom were carrying sticks, bricks, and scythes, leaving seven dead at the scene, including a child. [2][3] [4] City nickname: The City of Festivals, The Genuine American City, Cream City, Brewtown/Brew City Location Location of Milwaukee in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Government County Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett Physical characteristics Area Land Water 251. ...
Eight-hour day banner, Melbourne, 1856 The Eight-hour day movement, also known as the Short-time movement, had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. ...
Jeremiah McLain Rusk (June 17, 1830 - November 21, 1893) was the 15th Governor of the U.S. state of Wisconsin from 1882 to 1889. ...
Eight-hour day banner, Melbourne, 1856 The Eight-hour day movement, also known as the Short-time movement, had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. ...
The Milwaukee Journal reported that eight more would die within twenty-four hours, adding that Governor Rusk was to be commended for his quick action in the matter. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ...
1887 4 October 1887
The Louisiana Militia, aided by bands of "prominent citizens," shot 35 unarmed black sugar workers striking to gain a dollar-per-day wage, and lynched two strike leaders.
1890s
1890 25 July 1890
New York garment workers won the right to unionize after a seven-month strike. They secured agreements for a closed shop, and firing of all scabs.
1892 6 July 1892
Homestead Strike The Homestead Strike was a labor confrontation lasting 143 days in 1892, one of the most serious in the history of the United States. ...
Pinkerton Guards, trying to pave the way for the introduction of scabs, opened fire on striking Carnegie mill steel- workers in Homestead, Pennsylvania. In the ensuing battle, three Pinkertons surrendered; then, unarmed, they were set upon and beaten by a mob of townspeople, most of them women. Seven guards and eleven strikers and spectators were shot to death.[5] The term Pinkerton, when used by itself, can refer to: Pinkerton National Detective Agency, a well known detective agency founded in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton Lieutenant Pinkerton, a US naval officer who marries the title character in the opera Madama Butterfly Pinkerton (album), a 1996 album by Weezer Allan Pinkerton...
The term Pinkerton, when used by itself, can refer to: Pinkerton National Detective Agency, a well known detective agency founded in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton Lieutenant Pinkerton, a US naval officer who marries the title character in the opera Madama Butterfly Pinkerton (album), a 1996 album by Weezer Allan Pinkerton...
11 July 1892
Coeur d'Alene miners' dispute On July 11, 1892 miners in Coeur dAlene, Idaho commandeered trains, fired on scabs, and threatened to blow up nonunion equipment. ...
Striking miners in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho dynamited the Frisco Mill, leaving it in ruins. Coeur dAlene may refer to Lake Coeur dAlene The Coeur dAlene, a Native American tribe. ...
1893 5 July 1893
The Pullman strike Pullman Strike began on May 11, 1894. ...
During a strike against the Pullman Palace Car Company, which had drastically reduced wages, the 1892 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago's Jackson Park was set ablaze, and seven buildings were burned to the ground. The mobs raged on, burning and looting railroad cars and fighting police in the streets, until 10 July, when 14,000 federal and state troops finally succeeded in putting down the strike. Osaka Garden, with MSI in background Jackson Park is a 500 acre (2 km²) park on Chicagos South Side, bordering Lake Michigan and the neighborhoods of Hyde Park and Woodlawn. ...
1894 Federal troops killed 34 American Railway Union members in the Chicago area attempting to break a strike, led by Eugene Debs, against the Pullman Company. Debs and several others were imprisoned for violating injunctions, causing disintegration of the union. [6] May refer to the politcal leader Eugene_V._Debs May also be in reference to a a debutante ball, a formal party undertaken by the leaving members of second-level schools in Ireland, most often in the month of August or September. ...
1896 21 September 1896
The state militia was sent to Leadville, Colorado to break a miner's strike. View of Mount Massive looking west from Harrison Street in downtown Leadville Leadville is the county seat of Lake County, Colorado. ...
1897 10 September 1897
Lattimer Massacre The Lattimer massacre was an incident in which a sheriffs posse killed nineteen unarmed immigrant miners and wounded scores more. ...
19 unarmed striking coal miners and mine workers were killed and 36 wounded by a posse organized by the Luzerne County sheriff for refusing to disperse near Hazleton, Pennsylvania. The strikers, most of whom were shot in the back, were originally brought in as strike-breakers, but later organized themselves. Hazleton is a city located in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. ...
1898 A portion of the Erdman act, which would have made it a criminal offense for railroads to dismiss employees or discriminate against prospective employees based on their union activities, was declared invalid by the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States...
1900s
1902 12 October 1902
The Anthracite Coal Strike Political cartoon from the Cleveland Dealer The Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902, which officially began on June 2, was a strike action of anthracite coal miners in the Coal Region of northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. ...
Fourteen miners were killed and 22 wounded by scabherders at Pana, Illinois.[7] Pana is a city located in Christian County, Illinois. ...
1903 23 November 1903
"Cripple Creek Strike" Troops were dispatched to Cripple Creek, Colorado to control rioting by striking coal miners. Cripple Creek, is a city in Teller County, Colorado; it is the county seat. ...
July 1903
Labor organizer Mary Harris ("Mother") Jones leads child workers in demanding a 55 hour work week. This page is about the United States community organizer; there is also a magazine named after her. ...
1904 23 February 1904
William Randolph Hearst's San Francisco Chronicle began publishing articles on the menace of Japanese laborers, leading to a resolution of the California Legislature that action be taken against their immigration. William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper magnate, born in San Francisco, California. ...
The San Francisco Chronicle, the self-described Voice of the West, is Northern Californias largest newspaper. ...
8 June 1904
A battle between the Colorado Militia and striking miners at Dunnville ended with six union members dead and 15 taken prisoner. Seventy-nine of the strikers were deported to Kansas two days later.
1905 17 April 1905
The Supreme Court held that a maximum hours law for New York bakery workers was unconstitutional under the due process clause of the 14th amendment.
1908 1908
The Erdman Act was further weakened when Section 10 was declared unconstitutional. This section had made it illegal for railroad employers to fire employees for being involved in union activities and use "yellow dog" contracts (see 1898). Adair v. ...
1909 22 November 1909
The "Uprising of the 20,000." Female garment workers went on strike in New York; many were arrested. A judge told those arrested: "You are on strike against God."
1910s
1910 October 1, 1910
Los Angeles Times building bombing killed twenty people and destroyed the building. Calling it "the crime of the century," the newspaper's owner Harrison Gray Otis blamed the bombing on the unions, a charge denied by unionists. This article is about the publisher. ...
25 December 1910
A dynamite bomb destroyed a portion of the Llewellyn Iron works in Los Angeles, where a bitter strike was in progress. In April 1911 James McNamara and his brother John McNamara, secretary-treasurer of the International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers, were charged with the two crimes. James McNamara pleaded guilty to murder and John McNamara pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the dynamiting of the Llewellyn Iron Works.[8]
1911 The Supreme Court in Buck's Stove and Range Co. v. American Federation of Labor ((221 U.S. 418 [1911]) affirmed a lower court order for the AFL to stop interfering with Bucks Stove and Range Company's business or boycotting its products or distributors.
On June 24, 1912 in the second contempt trial, the defendants were again found guilty and sentenced to prison (In re Samuel Gompers, John Mitchell, and Frank Morrison). The Supreme Court overturned the convictions because the new proceedings had not been instituted within the three-year statute of limitations (233 U.S. 604 [1914]).[9]
25 March 1911
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was a major industrial disaster, causing the death of more than one hundred garment workers who either died in the fire or jumped to their deaths. ...
The Triangle Shirtwaist Company, occupying the top three floors of a ten-story building in New York City, was consumed by fire. One hundred and forty-seven people, mostly women and young girls working in sweatshop conditions, died. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was a major industrial disaster, causing the death of more than one hundred garment workers who either died in the fire or jumped to their deaths. ...
1912 24 February 1912
Lawrence textile strike "Bread and Roses" strike Massachusetts militiamen with fixed bayonets surround a parade of peaceful strikers Flyer distributed in Lawrence, September 1912 The Lawrence textile strike was a strike of immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912 led by the Industrial Workers of the World. ...
Bread And Roses is an all acoustic folk-punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. ...
Women and children were beaten by police during a textile strike against American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts.[10] High Service Water Tower (1895), also called Tower Hill Water Tower, a notable eyecatcher or folly, named a Water Landmark in 1979 by the American Water Works Association. ...
18 April 1912
The National Guard was called out against striking West Virginia coal miners.
1913 11 June 1913
Police shot three maritime workers (one of whom was killed) who were striking against the United Fruit Company in New Orleans. The United Fruit Company (1899–1970) was a corporation prominent in the import-export trade of tropical fruit (notably bananas and pineapples) coming from Third World plantations and sent to the United States and Europe. ...
1914 5 January 1914
The Ford Motor Company raised its basic wage from $2.40 for a nine hour day to $5 for an eight hour day. Eight-hour day banner, Melbourne, 1856 The Eight-hour day movement, also known as the Short-time movement, had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. ...
20 April 1914
The "Ludlow Massacre." In an attempt to persuade strikers at Colorado's Ludlow Mine Field to return to work, company "guards," engaged by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and other mine operators and sworn into the State Militia just for the occasion, attacked a union tent camp with machine guns, then set it afire. Five men, two women and 12 children died as a result. [11][12] Ludlow Massacre Monument The Ludlow Massacre of April 20, 1914 was one of the bloodiest assaults on organized labor in American history. ...
13 November 1914
A Western Federation of Miners strike is crushed by the militia in Butte, Montana. The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mine fields of the western United States. ...
Butte near Sedona, Arizona In the United States and Canada, a butte is an isolated hill with steep sides and a small flat top. ...
1915 19 January 1915
World famous labor leader Joe Hill was arrested in Salt Lake City. He was convicted on trumped up murder charges, and was executed 21 months later despite worldwide protests and two attempts to intervene by President Woodrow Wilson. In a letter to Bill Haywood shortly before his death he penned the famous words, "Don't mourn - organize!" Joe Hill Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, and also known as Joseph Hillström (October 7, 1879 – November 19, 1915) was an American labor activist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World, better known as the Wobblies. ...
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 28th President of the United States (1913–1921). ...
William Dudley Big Bill Haywood (February 4, 1869–May 18, 1928) was a prominent figure in American radical unionism as a leader in the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) and later as a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). ...
On this same day, twenty rioting strikers were shot by factory guards at Roosevelt, New Jersey. Roosevelt is a surname of Dutch origin, with the literal meaning of rose-field. ...
25 January 1915
The Supreme Court upholds "yellow dog" contracts, which forbid membership in labor unions.
1916 22 July 1916
A bomb was set off during a "Preparedness Day" parade in San Francisco, killing 10 and injuring 40 more. Thomas J. Mooney, a labor organizer and Warren K. Billings, a shoe worker, were convicted, but were both pardoned in 1939. July 22nd, 1916 Preparedness Day bombing By mid-1916, after viewing the carnage in Europe, the United States saw itself poised with great reluctance on the edge of participation in World War I. Isolationism and anti-preparedness feeling remained strong in San Francisco, not only among radicals such as the...
Thomas Joseph Mooney (December 8, 1882 - March 6, 1942) was a U.S. labor leader. ...
The Preparedness Day bombing was a terrorist attack in San Francisco, California on July 22, 1916 when the city held a parade in honor of Preparedness Day, in anticipation of entering World War I. During the parade a suitcase bomb was detonated, killing ten and wounding forty in the worst...
19 August 1916
Strikebreakers hired by the Everett Mills owner Neil Jamison attacked and beat picketing strikers in Everett, Washington. Local police watched and refused to intervene, claiming that the waterfront where the incident took place was Federal land and therefore outside their jurisdiction. (When the picketers retaliated against the strikebreakers that evening, the local police intervened, claiming that they had crossed the line of jurisdiction.)
Three days later, twenty-two union men attempted to speak out at a local crossroads, but each was arrested; arrests and beatings of strikebreakers became common throughout the following months, and on 30 October vigilantes forced IWW speakers to run the gauntlet, subjecting them to whipping, tripping kicking, and impalement against a spiked cattle guard at the end of the gauntlet. In response, the IWW called for a meeting on 5 November. When the union men arrived, they were fired on; seven people were killed, 50 were wounded, and an indeterminate number wound up missing. The IWW Label A Wobbly membership card The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, having much in common with anarcho-syndicalist unions, but also many differences. ...
7 September 1916
Federal employees win the right to receive Worker's Compensation insurance. Workers compensation systems (workers comp or compo) exist to protect employees who have incurred work-related injuries. ...
1917 12 July 1917
After seizing the local Western Union telegraph office in order to cut off outside communication, several thousand armed vigilantes forced 1,185 men in Bisbee, Arizona into manure-laden boxcars and "deported" them to the New Mexico desert. The action was precipitated by a strike when workers' demands (including improvements to safety and working conditions at the local copper mines, an end to discrimination against labor organizations and unequal treatment of foreign and minority workers, and the institution of a fair wage system) went unmet. The "deportation" was organized by Sheriff Harry Wheeler. The incident was investigated months later by a Federal Mediation Commission set up by President Woodrow Wilson; the Commission found that no federal law applied, and referred the case to the State of Arizona, which failed to take any action, citing patriotism and support for the war as justification for the vigilantes' action. Bisbee may refer to: Bisbee, Arizona Bisbee, North Dakota This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 28th President of the United States (1913–1921). ...
15 March 1917
The Supreme Court approved the Eight-Hour Act under the threat of a national railway strike. Eight-hour day banner, Melbourne, 1856 The Eight-hour day movement, also known as the Short-time movement, had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. ...
1 August 1917
IWW organizer Frank Little was lynched in Butte, Montana. The IWW Label A Wobbly membership card The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, having much in common with anarcho-syndicalist unions, but also many differences. ...
Frank Little (1879-1917) joined the radical union the Industrial Workers of the World in 1906. ...
Butte near Sedona, Arizona In the United States and Canada, a butte is an isolated hill with steep sides and a small flat top. ...
5 September 1917
Federal agents raided the IWW headquarters in 48 cities. The IWW Label A Wobbly membership card The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, having much in common with anarcho-syndicalist unions, but also many differences. ...
1918 3 June 1918
A Federal child labor law, enacted two years earlier, was declared unconstitutional. A new law was enacted 24 February 1919, but this one too was declared unconstitutional (on 2 June 1924). This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...
27 July 1918
United Mine Workers organizer Ginger Goodwin was shot by a hired private policeman outside Cumberland, British Columbia. United Mine Workers of America seal The United Mine Workers (UMW or UMWA) is a United States labor union that represents workers in mining. ...
Albert Ginger Goodwin [born Treeton, Yorkshire, England] May 10, 1887 inspired the first General Strike in Canada on August 2, 1918 in Vancouver, British Columbia. ...
Cumberland is one of the 39 traditional counties of England. ...
1919 26 August 1919
United Mine Worker organizer Fannie Sellins was gunned down by company guards in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania. United Mine Workers of America seal The United Mine Workers (UMW or UMWA) is a United States labor union that represents workers in mining. ...
Brackenridge is a borough located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. ...
19 September 1919
Looting, rioting and sporadic violence broke out in downtown Boston and South Boston for days after 1,117 Boston policemen declared a work stoppage due to their thwarted attempts to affiliate with the American Federation of Labor. Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge put down the strike by calling out the entire state militia. John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. ...
22 September 1919
The "Great Steel Strike" began. Ultimately, 350,000 steel workers walked off their jobs to demand union recognition. The AFL Iron and Steel Organizing Committee called off the strike on 8 January 1920, their goals unmet.[13]
11 November 1919
Centralia Massacre IWW organizer Wesley Everest was lynched after a Centralia, Washington IWW hall was attacked by Legionnaires. The Centralia Massacre, an infamous incident of labor unrest in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, occurred on November 11, 1919 in Centralia, Washington. ...
There are several places with the name Centralia In Canada: Centralia, Ontario In the United States: Centralia, California Centralia, Illinois Centralia, Iowa Centralia, Kansas Centralia, Missouri Centralia, New York Centralia, Oklahoma Centralia, Pennsylvania Centralia, Texas Centralia, Virginia Centralia, Washington Centralia, West Virginia This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid...
22 December 1919
Amid a strike for union recognition by 395,000 steelworkers (ultimately unsuccessful), approximately 250 "anarchists," "communists," and "labor agitators" were deported to Russia, marking the beginning of the so-called "Red Scare."
1920s
1920 2 January 1920
The U.S. Bureau of Investigation began carrying out the nationwide Palmer Raids. The Palmer Raids were a series of controversial raids on American, resident, and non-resident alien citizens in the United States from 1918 to 1921 based on their assumed political beliefs. ...
19 May 1920
The Battle of Matewan. Despite efforts by police chief (and former miner) Sid Hatfield and Mayor Cabel Testerman to protect miners from interference in their union drive in Matewan, West Virginia, Baldwin-Felts detectives hired by the local mining company arrived to evict miners and their families from the Stone Mountain Mine camp. A gun battle ensued, resulting in the deaths of 7 detectives, Mayor Testerman, and 2 miners. The movie Matewan is based on the event. Matewan is a town located in Mingo County, West Virginia, USA at the confluence of the Tug Fork River and Mate Creek. ...
Baldwin-Felts was a private detective agency in the United States, founded in 1900 by William Gibboney Baldwin and Thomas Lafayette Felts and based in Bluefield, West Virginia. ...
For the town in West Virginia, see Matewan, West Virginia. ...
Baldwin-Felts detectives assassinated Sid Hatfield 15 months later, sparking off an armed rebellion of 10,000 West Virginia coal miners at "The Battle of Blair Mountain," dubbed the Redneck war and the "the largest insurrection this country has had since the Civil War." Army troops later intervened against the striking mineworkers in West Virginia.[14] Baldwin-Felts was a private detective agency in the United States, founded in 1900 by William Gibboney Baldwin and Thomas Lafayette Felts and based in Bluefield, West Virginia. ...
United Mine Workers of America seal The United Mine Workers (UMW or UMWA) is a United States labor union that represents workers in mining. ...
1922 22 June 1922
Herrin massacre The Herrin Massacre occured when a local coal mine went on strike. ...
Thirty-six people were killed, 21 of them non-union miners, during a coal-mine strike at Herrin, Illinois. Herrin is a city located in Williamson County, Illinois. ...
21 July 1922
Great Railroad Strike of 1922 The Great Railroad Strike of 1922, a nationwide railroad shop workers strike in the United States which began on July 1, caused a national outcry. ...
On September 1 a federal judge James H. Wilkerson issued a sweeping injunction against striking, assembling, picketing, and a variety of other union activities, known as the "Daugherty Injunction."
1923 14 June 1923
Maritime strike. A San Pedro, California IWW hall was raided. Several children were scalded when the hall was demolished.[15][16] The IWW Label A Wobbly membership card The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, having much in common with anarcho-syndicalist unions, but also many differences. ...
1924 2 June 1924
Child Labor Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was proposed. Only 28 of the necessary 36 states ever ratified it. The Child Labor Amendment was, and remains, a proposed—and technically still-pending—amendment to the United States Constitution offered by Republican Ohio Congressman Israel Moore Foster during the 68th Congress in the form of House Joint Resolution No. ...
1925 25 May 1925
Two company houses occupied by nonunion coal miners were blown up and destroyed by labor "racketeers" during a strike against the Glendale Gas and Coal Company in Wheeling, West Virginia.
1926 Textile workers fought with police in Passaic, New Jersey. A year-long strike ensued. Passaic is a city located in Passaic County, New Jersey. ...
1927 21 November 1927
Picketing miners were massacred in Columbine, Colorado.
1928 The Southern textile strikes of 1929 as the prelude to the wider and more significant strike of the 1930's[17]
1930s
1930 3 February 1930
"Chicagorillas" -- labor racketeers -- shot and killed contractor William Healy, with whom the Chicago Marble Setters Union had been having difficulties.
14 April 1930
Over 100 farm workers were arrested for their unionizing activities in Imperial Valley, California. Eight were subsequently convicted of `criminal syndicalism.'
1931 4 May 1931
Gun-toting vigilantes attack striking miners in Harlan County, Kentucky.
1932 7 March 1932
Police kill striking workers at Ford's Dearborn, Michigan plant.
1933 10 October 1933
18,000 cotton workers went on strike in Pixley, California. Four were killed before a pay-hike was finally won.
1934 The Electric Auto-Lite Strike. In Toledo, OH, two strikers were killed and over two hundred wounded by National Guardsmen. Some 1300 National Guard troops, including included eight rifle companies and three machine gun companies, were called in to disperse the protestors.
May 1934
Police stormed striking truck drivers in Minneapolis who were attempting to prevent truck movement in the market area.
1 September - 22 September 1934
A strike in Woonsocket, RI, part of a national movement to obtain a minimum wage for textile workers, resulted in the deaths of three workers. Over 420,000 workers ultimately went on strike.
1935 9 November 1935
The Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) was formed to expand industrial unionism.
1937 11 February 1937
General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers union following a sit-down strike. The United Auto Workers (UAW), officially the United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union, is one of the largest labor unions in North America, with more than 700,000 members in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico organized into approximately 950 union locals. ...
Two months later, company guards beat up United Auto Workers leaders at the River Rouge, Michigan plant. The United Auto Workers (UAW), officially the United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union, is one of the largest labor unions in North America, with more than 700,000 members in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico organized into approximately 950 union locals. ...
30 May 1937
Police killed 10 and wounded 30 during the "Memorial Day Massacre" at the Republic Steel plant in Chicago.
1938 25 June 1938
The Wages and Hours (later Fair Labor Standards) Act is passed, banning child labor and setting the 40-hour work week. The Act went into effect in October 1940, and was upheld in the Supreme Court on 3 February 1941.
1939 27 February 1939
The Supreme Court rules that sit-down strikes are illegal.
1940s
1941 20 June 1941
Henry Ford recognizes the UAW.
15 December 1941
The AFL pledges that there will be no strikes in defense-related industry plants for the duration of the war.
1944 28 December 1944
President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Army to seize the executive offices of Montgomery Ward and Company after the corporation failed to comply with a National War Labor Board directive regarding union shops.
1946 Workers in packinghouses nation-wide went on strike.
1 April 1946
A strike by 400,000 mine workers in the U.S. began. U.S. troops seized railroads and coal mines the following month.
4 October 1946
The U.S. Navy seized oil refineries in order to break a 20-state post-war strike.
1947 20 June 1947
The Taft-Hartley Labor Act, curbing strikes, was vetoed by President Truman. Congress overrode the veto. The Taft-Hartley Act severely restricted the activities and power of labor unions in the United States. ...
1948 20 April 1948
Labor leader Walter Reuther was shot and seriously wounded by would-be assassins. Walter Philip Reuther (b. ...
1950s
1950 27 August 1950
President Truman ordered the U.S. Army to seize all the nation's railroads to prevent a general strike. The railroads were not returned to their owners until two years later.
1952 8 April 1952
President Truman ordered the U.S. Army to seize the nation's steel mills to avert a strike. The act was ruled to be illegal by the Supreme Court on 2 June.
1955 5 December 1955
The two largest labor organizations in the U.S. merged to form the AFL-CIO, with a membership estimated at 15 million.
1956 5 April 1956
Columnist Victor Riesel, a crusader against labor racketeers, was blinded in New York City when a hired assailant threw sulfuric acid in his face. Victor Riesel (1917-1995) was an American newspaper journalist who specialized in news related to labor unions. ...
1959 14 September 1959
The Landrum-Griffin Act passes, restricting union activity. The Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), also known as the Landrum-Griffin Act, is a United States labor law statute that regulates labor unions internal affairs and union officials relationships with employers Enacted in 1959 after revelations concerning corruption and undemocratic practices in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters...
7 November 1959
The Taft-Hartley Act is invoked by the Supreme Court to break a steel strike. The Taft-Hartley Act severely restricted the activities and power of labor unions in the United States. ...
1960s
1963 1 April 1963
The longest newspaper strike in U.S. history ended. The 9 major newspapers in New York City had ceased publication over 100 days before.
10 June 1963
Congress passes a law mandating equal pay to women.
1970s
1970 5 January 1970
Joseph A. Yablonski, unsuccessful reform candidate to unseat "Tough Tony" Boyle as President of the United Mine Workers, was murdered, along with his wife and daughter, in their Clarksville, Pennsylvania home by assassins acting on Boyle's orders. Boyle was later convicted of the killing. United Mine Workers of America seal The United Mine Workers (UMW or UMWA) is a United States labor union that represents workers in mining. ...
Clarksville is the name of some places in the United States of America: Clarksville, Alabama Clarksville, Arkansas Clarksville, California Clarksville, Delaware Clarksville, Florida Clarksville, Idaho Clarksville, Illinois Clarksville, Indiana Clarksville, Iowa Clarksville, Maryland Clarksville, Michigan Clarksville, Missouri Clarksville, New Jersey Clarksville, New York Clarksville, Ohio Clarksville, Oklahoma Clarksville, Oregon Clarksville...
West Virginia miners went on strike the following day in protest.
18 March 1970
The first mass work stoppage in the 195-year history of the Post Office Department began with a walkout of letter carriers in Brooklyn and Manhattan, soon involving 210,000 of the nation's 750,000 postal employees. With mail service virtually paralyzed in New York, Detroit, and Philadelphia, President Nixon declared a state of national emergency and assigned military units to New York City post offices. The stand-off culminated two weeks later.
29 July 1970
United Farm Workers forced California grape growers to sign an agreement after a five-year strike. The United Farm Workers of America (UFW) are a labor union that evolved from unions founded in 1962 by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta. ...
1979 1979 Movie:
Norma Rae
Based on a real life character trying to unionize a textile mill, the movie wins an Academy Award for best actress.
1980s
1981 3 August 1981
Federal air traffic controllers began a nationwide strike after their union rejected the government's final offer for a new contract. Most of the 13,000 striking controllers defied the back-to-work order, and were dismissed by President Reagan on 5 August.
1982 October 1982
A boycott was initiated by the Industrial Association of Machinists (IAM) against Brown & Sharpe. The National Labor Relations Board later charged Brown & Sharpe with regressive bargaining, and of entering into negotiations with the express purpose of not reaching an agreement with the union. (See IAM for more details.). Logo of the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is an AFL-CIO/CLC trade union representing over 800,000 workers in more than 200 industries. ...
American wire gauge (AWG) is used in the United States and other countries as a standard method of denoting wire diameter, especially for non-ferrous, electrically conducting wire. ...
In the United States the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is a five-person appointed federal agency charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor pratices. ...
Logo of the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is an AFL-CIO/CLC trade union representing over 800,000 workers in more than 200 industries. ...
1984 Hormel meat strike fails. The documentary American Dream chronicles the strike.
1986 6 October 1986
Female flight attendants won an 18-year lawsuit against United Airlines, which had fired them for getting married. The lawsuit was resolved when a U.S. district court approved the reinstatement of 475 attendants and $37 million back-pay settlement for 1,725 flight attendants. (United Airlines, Inc. v. McDonald, 432 U.S. 385 (1977))[18] [19] United Airlines (IATA: UA, ICAO: UAL, and Callsign: United), the major subsidiary of UAL Corporation (OTCBB: UALAQ), is a major airline of the United States. ...
See Also The following is a list of deliberate absence from work related to specific working conditions (strikes) or due to general unhappiness with the political order (general strikes). ...
Footnotes - ^ One of ten labor struggles written about in: Yellen, Samuel (1974 (reprint of 1936 book)). American Labor Struggles, Anchor Foundation. ISBN 0913460338.
Recommended by Howard Zinn in Declarations of Independence: Cross Examining American Ideology Howard Zinn speaks at Marlboro College on February 16, 2004. ...
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