Today in Labor History: Weekend Edition
July 27
William Sylvis, founder of the National Labor Union, died – 1869
July 28
Women shoemakers in Lynn, Mass. create Daughters of St. Crispin, demand pay equal to that of men – 1869
Harry Bridges is born in Australia. He came to America as a sailor at age 19 and went on to help form and lead the militant International Longshore and Warehouse Union for more than 40 years – 1901
A strike by Paterson, N.J. silk workers for an eight-hour day, improved working conditions ends after six months, with the workers’ demands unmet. During the course of the strike, approximately 1,800 strikers were arrested, including Wobblie leaders Big Bill Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn – 1913
Federal troops burn the shantytown built near the U.S. Capitol by thousands of unemployed WWI veterans, camping there to demand a bonus they had been promised but never received – 1932
Nine miners are rescued in Somerset, Pa. after being trapped for 77 hours 240 feet underground in the flooded Quecreek Mine – 2002
July 29
The Coast Seamen’s Union merges with the Steamship Sailor’s Union to form the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific – 1891
A preliminary delegation from Mother Jones’ March of the Mill Children from Philadelphia to Pres. Theodore Roosevelt’s summer home in Oyster Bay, Long Island, publicizing the harsh conditions of child labor, arrives today. They are not allowed through the gates – 1903
Following a five-year table grape boycott, Delano-area growers file into the United Farm Workers union hall in Delano, Calif. to sign their first union contracts – 1970
[The Fight in the Fields tells the story of the United Farm Workers’ struggles to raise farmworker pay from .40 an hour, to win union recognition from savagely resistant grape and lettuce growers, to stop the use of deadly pesticides that were killing children in the fields. UFW founder Cesar Chavez endured several month-long fasts to counteract what he saw as a growing tendency toward violence in the farmworker movement, and many think those heroic acts contributed to his early death, at the age of 64. Robert Kennedy called Chavez “one of the heroic figures of our time.” Few would disagree with that assessment. In the UCS bookstore now.]
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Cool Labor Site: Showbiz Glitz
The website of International Cinematographers Guild, IATSE Local 600. Show-biz glitz with a union label, the site links to a huge number of members’ sites showing filmmaker skills and artistry. https://www.cameraguild.com/
Labor Video: The Boehner Bunch
Great new video spoof from AFSCME highlights how in the pockets of insurance CEOs — and out of touch with the average Joe — John Boehner, Mitt Romney and the rest of the GOP bunch are. Watch this video, share it on Facebook and Twitter, and then send a message to Congress: Hands off our health care! http://www.afscme.org/boehner-bunch
