Today In Labor History: April 8

April 8, 1864—13^th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, banning chattel slavery, but allowing a continuation of wage slavery and the forced labor of convicts without pay. (From the Daily Bleed)

April 8, 1911 – 128 convict miners, mostly African-Americans jailed for minor offenses, were killed by a massive explosion at the Banner coalmine near Birmingham, Alabama. While the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, which occurred just two weeks earlier, elicited massive public attention and support for the plight of immigrant women working in sweatshop conditions, the Banner explosion garnered almost no public sympathy, probably due to racism and the fact that they were prisoners. (From Workday Minnesota)

Emma Goldman 1911 (Library of Congress)

April 8, 1916—Emma Goldman was arrested for giving a lecture on birth control. (From the Daily Bleed)

April 8, 1937—The UAW struck a GM plant in Ontario to win union recognition. (From the Daily Bleed)

April 8, 1952 - President Harry Truman sent the U.S. Army to take over the nation’s steel mills to avoid a strike. The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled the president’s action to be illegal. (From Workday Minnesota)