Today in Labor History: October 18
The “Shoemakers of Boston” – the first labor organization in what would later become the United States – was authorized by the Massachusetts Bay Colony – 1648
New York City agrees to pay women school teachers a rate equal to that of men – 1911
IWW Colorado Mine strike; first time all coal fields are out – 1927
58,000 Chrysler Corp. workers strike for wage increases – 1939
The United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA) was formed as a self-governing union, an outgrowth of the CIO’s Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee. UPWA merged with the Meatcutters union in 1968, which merged with the Retail Clerks in 1979 to form the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) – 1943
GM agrees to hire more women and minorities for five years as part of a settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – 1983
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Labor Book: Unions for Beginners
It is a time when unions have returned to the front pages of newspapers and blogs and demonstrators are in the streets of America every day. It is a time when the right wing has tried to strike the final blow against what remains of the right to collective bargaining. It is a time when millions of members of the middle class are falling through the cracks in a downward economic trend that parallels the decline of unions. It is this time when people are turning again to the history of unions. Unions For Beginners provides an introduction to that essential history.
Labor Humor: All In A Day’s Work
Three women were sitting around and bragging about their children. The first one says, “You know, my son, he graduated first in his class from Stanford. He’s now a doctor, making $250,000 a year in Chicago.” The second woman says, “My son graduated first in his class from Harvard. He’s now a lawyer, making half a million dollars a year and he lives in Los Angeles.” The last woman says, “Well, my son never did too well in school. He never went to any university but he now makes one million dollars a year in New York working as a sports repairman.” The other two women ask “What’s a sports repairman?” The woman said…click here for the punchline.
