Today in Labor History: October 31
George Henry Evans publishes the first issue of the Working Man’s Advocate, “edited by a Mechanic” for the “useful and industrious classes” in New York City. He focused on the inequities between the “portion of society living in luxury and idleness” and those “groaning under the oppressions and miseries imposed on them.” – 1829
Tennessee sends in leased convict laborers to break a coal miners strike in Anderson County. The miners revolted, burned the stockades, and sent the captured convicts by train back to Knoxville – 1891
After 14 years of labor by 400 stone masons, the Mt. Rushmore sculpture is completed in Keystone, South Dakota – 1941
The Upholsterers International Union merges into the United Steelworkers – 1949
Int’l Alliance of Bill Posters, Billers & Distributors of the United States & Canada surrenders its AFL-CIO charter and is disbanded – 1971
… click here for complete posting.
Member Tip: Your Union is More Than a Contract
Union members enjoy a variety of discount programs and other group benefits. If you’re like a lot of union members, for example, you can purchase your new car through a union discount buying program, you can finance that car with a low rate loan through your union credit union, you can fill up the gas tank with your union credit card, and you can get special union travel discounts when you go on vacation. And you may have researched where to go on that vacation using the AFL-CIO’s or another labor-sponsored Internet Service Provider.
– Adapted from The Union Member’s Complete Guide, by Michael Mauer
Labor Song: Let Their Heads Roll
Anne Feeney, the grandaughter of United Mine Workers organizer William Patrick Feeney (1876-1939), has worked as a waitress, a secretary, a clerk at the New York Stock Exchange, a lawyer and a local union president. She travels the U.S. to support embattled workers. Click here to listen to the song.
