Today in Labor History: Weekend Edition
July 13
Detroit newspaper workers begin 19-month strike against Gannett, Knight-Ridder. The strike was to become a lockout, which lasted four years more – 1995
Also on this date: Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union organized in Tyronza, AR… click here for complete postings.
July 14
Woody Guthrie, writer of “This Land is Your Land” and “Union Maid,” born in Okemah, OK. – 1912
Also on this date: The Great Uprising nationwide railway strike begins in Martinsburg, WV after railroad workers are hit with their second pay cut in a year… Italian immigrants and anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are convicted in Massachusetts of murder and payroll robbery – unfairly, 
most historians agree – after a two-month trial, and are eventually executed… click here for complete postings.
[Woody Guthrie: A Life: Guthrie’s life and work inspired millions while he lived and continues to do so through musicians such as his son Arlo, Bob Dylan -- who as a teenager visited and sang for Guthrie as death approached -- friend and contemporary Pete Seeger, Billy Bragg and Bruce Springsteen, to name just a few. Guthrie is portrayed as he was -- an imperfect being but one with a gift that helped millions as they struggled toward better lives. In the UCS bookstore now.]
July 15
A half-million steelworkers begin what is to become a 116-day strike that shutters nearly every steel mill in the country. Management wanted to dump contract language limiting its ability to change the number of workers assigned to a task or to introduce new work rules or machinery that would result in reduced hours or fewer employees – 1959
Also on this date: 50,000 lumberjacks strike for eight-hour day…Robert Gray, an African-American sharecropper and leader of the Share Croppers Union, is murdered in Camp Hill, Alabama… click here for complete postings.
Cool Labor Site: International Labor Rights Forum
The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) is an advocacy organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide. http://www.laborrights.org/
Labor Video: Meet Mr. 1%
Great video produced by the AFL-CIO takes a closer look at the presidential race. Click here to watch the video.
