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Labor History Timeline __NOTOC__ 1900s - 1910s - 1920s - 1930s - 1940s - 1950s - 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1790S 1797 United States Profit sharing originated at Albert Gallatin's glass works in New Geneva, Pennsylvania. 1800S 1806 United States 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”. 1820S 1825 United States 27 April 1825 Carpenters in Boston were the first to stage a strike for the 10-hour work-day. 1830S 1835 United States 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. 1840S 1842 United States March 1842 Commonwealth V. Hunt was a landmark legal decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on the subject of labor unions. Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw ruled that unions were legal organizations and had the right to organize and strike. Before this decision, labor unions which attempted to 'close' or create an unionized workplace could be charged with conspiracy. See Commonwealth Vs. Pullis 1850S 1851 United States July Two railroad strikers were shot dead and others injured by the state militia in Portgage, New York . 1860S 1860 United States 800 women operatives and 4,000 workmen marched during a shoemaker's strike in Lynn, Massachusetts . 1866 United States National Labor Union formed - 1st national labor federation in the US. 1868 Germany The General German Federation Of Trade Unions (ADGB) was founded and represented 142,000 workers. 1870S 1874 United States 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 United States 12 February 1877 Great Railroad Strike U.S. railroad workers began strikes to protest wage cuts. 21 June 1877 Ten coal-mining activists (" Molly Maguires ") were hanged in Pennsylvania. 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 United States 5 September 1882 Thirty thousand workers marched in the first Labor Day parade in New York City. 1884 United States 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." 1886 United States
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 .
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. [http://linkstothepast.com/milwaukee/bayviewmassacre.html 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 Haymarket Riot , in Chicago (US), is the origin of international May Day observances. 1887 United States 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 United States 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 United States 6 July 1892 Homestead Strike 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 Pinkerton s 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. 11 July 1892 Coeur D'Alene Miners' Dispute Striking miners in Coeur D'Alene , Idaho dynamited the Frisco Mill, leaving it in ruins. 1893 United States 5 July 1893 The Pullman Strike 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. 1894 United Kingdom History Of Trade Unionism the influential book by Sidney and Beatrice Webb is first published. United States 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. 1895 France The Confédération Générale Du Travail (CGT), was formed. This French union is the oldest confederation still in existence. 1896 United States 21 September 1896 The state militia was sent to Leadville , Colorado to break a miner's strike. 1897 United States 10 September 1897 Lattimer Massacre 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. 1898 United States 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 . 1900S 1902 United States 12 October 1902 The Anthracite Coal Strike Fourteen miners were killed and 22 wounded by Scabherders at Pana, Illinois . 1903 United States 23 November 1903 " Cripple Creek Strike " Troops were dispatched to Cripple Creek , Colorado to control rioting by striking coal miners. July 1903 Labor organizer Mary Harris ("Mother") Jones leads child workers in demanding a 55 hour work week. 1904 United States 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. 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 United States 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 United States 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). 1909 United States 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 United States 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. 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. {Link without Title} 1911 United States The Supreme Court in Buck's Stove And Range Co. V. American Federation Of Labor (( 221 U.S. 418 {Link without Title} ) 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 {Link without Title} ). {Link without Title} 25 March 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire 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. 1912 United States 24 February 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike " Bread And Roses " strike Women and children were beaten by police during a textile strike against American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts . 18 April 1912 The National Guard was called out against striking West Virginia coal miners. 1913 United States 11 June 1913 Police shot three maritime workers (one of whom was killed) who were striking against the United Fruit Company in New Orleans. 1914 United States 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 . 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. 13 November 1914 A Western Federation Of Miners strike is crushed by the militia in Butte , Montana. 1915 United States 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!" On this same day, twenty rioting strikers were shot by factory guards at Roosevelt , New Jersey. 25 January 1915 The Supreme Court upholds "yellow dog" contracts, which forbid membership in labor unions. 1916 United States 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. 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. 7 September 1916 Federal employees win the right to receive Worker's Compensation Insurance . 1917 United States 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. 15 March 1917 The Supreme Court approved the Eight-Hour Act under the threat of a national railway strike. 1 August 1917 IWW organizer Frank Little was lynched in Butte , Montana. 5 September 1917 Federal agents raided the IWW headquarters in 48 cities. 1918 United States 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). 27 July 1918 United Mine Worker s organizer Ginger Goodwin was shot by a hired private policeman outside Cumberland , British Columbia. 1919 United States 26 August 1919 United Mine Worker organizer Fannie Sellins was gunned down by company guards in Brackenridge, 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. 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. 11 November 1919 Centralia Massacre IWW organizer Wesley Everest was lynched after a Centralia , Washington IWW hall was attacked by Legionnaires. 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 United States 2 January 1920 The U.S. Bureau of Investigation began carrying out the nationwide Palmer Raids . 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. 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. {Link without Title} 1922 United States 22 June 1922 Herrin Massacre Thirty-six people were killed, 21 of them non-union miners, during a coal-mine strike at Herrin, Illinois . 21 July 1922 Great Railroad Strike Of 1922 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 United States 14 June 1923 Maritime strike. A San Pedro, California IWW hall was raided. Several children were scalded when the hall was demolished. {Link without Title} {Link without Title} 1924 United States 2 June 1924 Child Labor Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was proposed. Only 28 of the necessary 36 states ever ratified it. 1925 United States 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 United States Textile workers fought with police in Passaic, New Jersey . A year-long strike ensued. 1927 United States 21 November 1927 Picketing miners were massacred in Columbine, Colorado. 1928 United States The Southern textile strikes of 1929 as the prelude to the wider and more significant strike of the 1930's 1930S 1930 United States 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 United States 4 May 1931 Gun-toting vigilantes attack striking miners in Harlan County, Kentucky. 1932 United States 7 March 1932 Police kill striking workers at Ford's Dearborn, Michigan plant. 1933 United States 10 October 1933 18,000 cotton workers went on strike in Pixley, California. Four were killed before a pay-hike was finally won. 1934 United States 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 United States 9 November 1935 The Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) was formed to expand industrial unionism. 1937 United States 11 February 1937 General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers union following a sit-down strike. Two months later, company guards beat up United Auto Workers leaders at the River Rouge, Michigan plant. 30 May 1937 Police killed 10 and wounded 30 during the "Memorial Day Massacre" at the Republic Steel plant in Chicago. 1938 United States 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 United States 27 February 1939 The Supreme Court rules that sit-down strikes are illegal. 1940S 1941 United States 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 United States 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 United States 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 United States 20 June 1947 The Taft-Hartley Labor Act , curbing strikes, was vetoed by President Truman. Congress overrode the veto. 1948 United States 20 April 1948 Labor leader Walter Reuther was shot and seriously wounded by would-be assassins. 1950S 1950 United States 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 United States 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 United States 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 United States 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. 1959 United States 14 September 1959 The Landrum-Griffin Act passes, restricting union activity. 7 November 1959 The Taft-Hartley Act is invoked by the Supreme Court to break a steel strike. 1960S 1963 United States 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 United States 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. 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. 1979 United States 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 United States 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 United States 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.)''. 1984 United States Hormel meat strike fails. The documentary American Dream chronicles the strike. 1986 United States 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)) [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=432&invol=385 SEE ALSO FOOTNOTES]] | ||
| Year | 2005 |
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| Title | Trade Unions of the World |
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| Editor | ICTUR et al, |
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| Edition | 6th |
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| Publisher | John Harper Publishing |
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| Location | London, UK |
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| Id | ISBN 0-9543811-5-7 |
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