Today in Labor History: April 23

April 23, 1918--A General Strike ended conscription of Irish men into the British army during WWI. (From the Daily Bleed)

 

April 23, 1993 - United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez died at age 66.

Today in Labor History: April 11

Luddites Smashing Looms (from Cotton Times)

April 11, 1812 – 300 Luddites attacked Wroe & Duncliffs Mfg., in Rawfords Hill, England, to destroy the machinery that was replacing them and throwing them out of work. Wroe & Duncliffs Mfg. was set ablaze, while Wm Cartwright's mill in Liversedge was attacked by mobs. (From The Daily Bleed)

April 11, 1934 - Frank Norman, who had the gall to organize all citrus workers, regardless of their race, was kidnapped from his home in Florida and murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_04_11_2011

April 11, 1938 – Richard Whitney, the five-term president of the New York Stock Exchange, was sentenced to 5-10 years for grand larceny. (From The Daily Bleed)

April 11, 1941 - The Ford Motor Company signed its first contract with the United Auto Workers. (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1947 - Jackie Robinson played his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first black baseball player to play in the major leagues. (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1968 – the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed into law barring racial discrimination in housing & other areas. The Act also made it a crime to cross state lines with the intent to incite a riot, giving the government a new tool to prosecute labor and other protest organizers. (From The Daily Bleed)

April 11, 1974 - United Mine Workers President W. A. "Tony" Boyle was found guilty of first-degree murder for ordering the 1969 assassination of union reformer Joseph A. "Jock" Yablonski.  (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1980 – Eleven-day strike by 34,000 New York City Transit Authority workers for higher wages ended with management agreeing to a 9% raise in the 1st year and 8% in the 2^nd. During this same year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prohibited sexual harassment of workers by supervisors in the workplace. (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1986 – 17 were arrested on felony riot charges after police tear-gas striking Hormel meatpacking workers in Austin, Minn. The following day, 6,000 people demonstrated against Hormel and the police (nearly one-third of the city’s entire population). The strike was eventually suppressed by Hormel, with the collaboration of the state, and the workers’ own union. (From The Daily Bleed and the Unionist)

April 11, 1997 - 25,000 people marched in Watsonville, CA in support of the United Farm Workers organizing campaign for strawberry workers. (From the Unionist)

Today in Labor History—March 30

March 30, 1930: 30,000 unemployed marched in New York City. At the time, there was virtually no formal or institutional aid available for the unemployed or poor. Even the AFL did not support unemployment insurance, as it saw itself as the representative of skilled workers only, and could care less about the unskilled and factory workers. Another reason for the lack of government support for the unemployed was that working conditions were so terrible the ruling elite feared that workers would choose the dole over work if given the choice. In New York, police attacked the marchers.

March 30, 1970: United Farm Workers signed the first table grape contract with two growers.

(Sources: Workaday Minnesota, Daily Bleed).

Today in Labor History—March 13

(From wikipedia)

March 13, 1925 – Tennessee made it unlawful to teach evolution. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 13, 1946 - The United Auto Workers and General Motors signed a new contract after a four-month strike over wages. (From Workday Minnesota)

March 13, 1961 – IWW Labor organizer and recovering anarchist Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was elected chair of the National Committee of the Communist Party, U.S.A. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 13, 1963 – Labor Local 260 Houston negotiated its first contract with Pioneer Bus, ending dual pay scales for black and white drivers. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 13, 1967 – United Farm Workers (UFW) won a contract with the Christian Brothers Winery. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 13, 1968 – Student demonstrations in Warsaw led to street riots. All Polish universities were out on strike, with students occupying university. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 13, 1996 – Two leaders of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Yang Kyu Hon and Kwon Young Kil, were arrested. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—December 4

December 4, 1906 – The National Federation of Postal Clerks was chartered on this date. (from the Daily Bleed)

December 4, 1951 - Walter Reuther, President of the United Auto Workers, was elected head of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Four years later, he led the merger of the CIO and the American Federation of Labor to form the AFL-CIO. (From Workday Minnesota)

December 4, 1969--Chicago Black Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark and 2 others were murdered by police, with assistance from the FBI.

December 4, 1970--Cesar Chavez was jailed for 20 days for refusing to call off the Salinas lettuce boycott. (from the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—September 8

Bulleton of the Modern School (1st published in 1901)

September 8, 1901 – Francisco Ferrer, Spanish anarchist educator, opened the libertarian Escuela Moderna in Barcelona, Spain. Modern schools eventually popped up all over Spain and other countries, including several in the U.S. (See History of the Modern School)--(From the Daily Bleed)

Bread Line During the McKees Rock Strike (from the Historical Society of PA)

 September 8, 1909 – The bosses bent to the demands of striking Wobblies (members of the Industrial Workers of the World, IWW) in McKees Rock, Pa. They agreed to improved working conditions, a raise of 15%,  and an end to the “pool system” that gave foremen control over each worker’s pay. It was the Wobbly’s biggest victory to date. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 8, 1911 – The founding congress of the Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo (C.N.T.) occurred on this date in Barcelona. Nearly 100 delegates created the framework for this anarcho-syndicalist organization. (From theDaily Bleed)

September 8, 1965 - Cesar Chavez led farm workers in California on their first grape boycott. The nationwide protest lasted five years and ended with the first union contract for U.S. farm workers outside of Hawaii. In 1966, Chavez’s organization officially became the United Farm Workers. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History—August 24

August 24, 1827-- The Mechanics Gazette, America's first labor newspaper, was published in Philadelphia. (From Workday Minnesota)

 

August 24, 1930 – Two were killed in Indochina in riots commemorating the third anniversary of the Sacco and Vanzetti execution. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 24, 1970 – The UFW (United Farm Workers) lettuce strike began. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 24, 1979 – A strike began in the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, which lasted for three weeks. 13,000 men participated despite the fact that their official trade unions did not. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 24, 1980 – The Solidarnosc trade union movement was founded in Gdansk, Poland. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—August 16

August 16, 1819 – Police attacked unemployed workers at a demonstration in Manchester, England. (From the Daily Bleed)

August 16, 1973 – A 60-year-old United Farm Workers (UFW) member, Juan de la Cruz, was shot to death by a strike breaker during the UFW's a second grape boycott, in opposition to the Teamster’s sweetheart deals with the California growers. (From the Daily Bleed)

Today in Labor History—July 29

July 29, 1900 – King Umberto of Italy was assassinated by Italian anarchist Gaetano Bresci, as revenge for the army's crushing of the worker's insurrection in Milan, May 1898, in which they killed hundreds of workers. Bresci was arrested and later found strangled in his cell at Santo Stefano Prison, on May 22nd, 1901.

July 29, 1903 – The first delegation from Mother Jones’ March of the Mill Children arrived at Teddy Roosevelt's summer home in Oyster Bay, Long Island, to publicize the harsh conditions of child labor. They weren’t allowed through the gates. (From the Daily Bleed)

July 29, 1970 – After five years on strike, the United Farm Workers finally won a contract with California grape growers. (From Workday Minnesota)

Today in Labor History: April 23

April 23, 1918--A General Strike ended conscription of Irish men into the British army during WWI. (From the Daily Bleed)

 

April 23, 1993 - United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez died at age 66.

Today in Labor History: April 11

Luddites Smashing Looms (from Cotton Times)

April 11, 1812 – 300 Luddites attacked Wroe & Duncliffs Mfg., in Rawfords Hill, England, to destroy the machinery that was replacing them and throwing them out of work. Wroe & Duncliffs Mfg. was set ablaze, while Wm Cartwright's mill in Liversedge was attacked by mobs. (From The Daily Bleed)

April 11, 1934 - Frank Norman, who had the gall to organize all citrus workers, regardless of their race, was kidnapped from his home in Florida and murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_04_11_2011

April 11, 1938 – Richard Whitney, the five-term president of the New York Stock Exchange, was sentenced to 5-10 years for grand larceny. (From The Daily Bleed)

April 11, 1941 - The Ford Motor Company signed its first contract with the United Auto Workers. (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1947 - Jackie Robinson played his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first black baseball player to play in the major leagues. (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1968 – the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed into law barring racial discrimination in housing & other areas. The Act also made it a crime to cross state lines with the intent to incite a riot, giving the government a new tool to prosecute labor and other protest organizers. (From The Daily Bleed)

April 11, 1974 - United Mine Workers President W. A. "Tony" Boyle was found guilty of first-degree murder for ordering the 1969 assassination of union reformer Joseph A. "Jock" Yablonski.  (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1980 – Eleven-day strike by 34,000 New York City Transit Authority workers for higher wages ended with management agreeing to a 9% raise in the 1st year and 8% in the 2^nd. During this same year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prohibited sexual harassment of workers by supervisors in the workplace. (From the Unionist)

April 11, 1986 – 17 were arrested on felony riot charges after police tear-gas striking Hormel meatpacking workers in Austin, Minn. The following day, 6,000 people demonstrated against Hormel and the police (nearly one-third of the city’s entire population). The strike was eventually suppressed by Hormel, with the collaboration of the state, and the workers’ own union. (From The Daily Bleed and the Unionist)

April 11, 1997 - 25,000 people marched in Watsonville, CA in support of the United Farm Workers organizing campaign for strawberry workers. (From the Unionist)

Today in Labor History—March 30

March 30, 1930: 30,000 unemployed marched in New York City. At the time, there was virtually no formal or institutional aid available for the unemployed or poor. Even the AFL did not support unemployment insurance, as it saw itself as the representative of skilled workers only, and could care less about the unskilled and factory workers. Another reason for the lack of government support for the unemployed was that working conditions were so terrible the ruling elite feared that workers would choose the dole over work if given the choice. In New York, police attacked the marchers.

March 30, 1970: United Farm Workers signed the first table grape contract with two growers.

(Sources: Workaday Minnesota, Daily Bleed).

Today in Labor History—March 13

(From wikipedia)

March 13, 1925 – Tennessee made it unlawful to teach evolution. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 13, 1946 - The United Auto Workers and General Motors signed a new contract after a four-month strike over wages. (From Workday Minnesota)

March 13, 1961 – IWW Labor organizer and recovering anarchist Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was elected chair of the National Committee of the Communist Party, U.S.A. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 13, 1963 – Labor Local 260 Houston negotiated its first contract with Pioneer Bus, ending dual pay scales for black and white drivers. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 13, 1967 – United Farm Workers (UFW) won a contract with the Christian Brothers Winery. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 13, 1968 – Student demonstrations in Warsaw led to street riots. All Polish universities were out on strike, with students occupying university. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 13, 1996 – Two leaders of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Yang Kyu Hon and Kwon Young Kil, were arrested. (From the Daily Bleed)

Automatic Union Recognition When Bosses Misbehave, Or Just A Little Red Tape?

This weekend, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a new law that will allow state regulators to automatically certify union elections by farmworkers if it can be shown that growers used threats or intimidation toward workers in the election process.

The United Farm Workers (UFW) membership has been declining over the past decade, in part because of intimidation and dirty tricks by growers.  However, the new law will not end intimidation by employers. UFW President Arturo Rodriguez called the new law an “improvement,” not a remedy, according to the Washington Post.

The UFW has been fighting for card-check balloting, which would allow workers to vote by signing petitions away from the fields. Farmers and growers’ associations have vigorously fought the move, arguing that union officials would use the method to rig elections. However, the growers and farmers don’t really care about whether the unions are corrupt (they will corrupt the unions themselves, when given the chance). What the growers want is the cheapest labor possible, which means either no union at all, or a company union in the pockets of the bosses.

Legislation that would have given farmworkers the right to card-check elections was vetoed by Gov. Brown in June. Brown has tried to portray the new law as a victory for workers, but it is nothing more than a weak compromise that gives the workers little and the bosses a relatively large hoop to jump through.

Growers nonetheless cried foul, complaining that the new law could easily trip them up. However, if they leave their workers alone and allow them to organize freely and without any intimidation or intervention, they have nothing to fear from the law. They can probably even continue with most of their dirty tricks without fear of legal consequences. The Agricultural Labor Relations Board said that misconduct by growers would have to be “egregious and include pervasive threats” for an election to be automatically certified, according to the WaPo article.

Today in Labor History—September 8

Bulleton of the Modern School (1st published in 1901)

September 8, 1901 – Francisco Ferrer, Spanish anarchist educator, opened the libertarian Escuela Moderna in Barcelona, Spain. Modern schools eventually popped up all over Spain and other countries, including several in the U.S. (See History of the Modern School)--(From the Daily Bleed)

Bread Line During the McKees Rock Strike (from the Historical Society of PA)

 September 8, 1909 – The bosses bent to the demands of striking Wobblies (members of the Industrial Workers of the World, IWW) in McKees Rock, Pa. They agreed to improved working conditions, a raise of 15%,  and an end to the “pool system” that gave foremen control over each worker’s pay. It was the Wobbly’s biggest victory to date. (From Workday Minnesota)

September 8, 1911 – The founding congress of the Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo (C.N.T.) occurred on this date in Barcelona. Nearly 100 delegates created the framework for this anarcho-syndicalist organization. (From the Daily Bleed)

September 8, 1965 - Cesar Chavez led farm workers in California on their first grape boycott. The nationwide protest lasted five years and ended with the first union contract for U.S. farm workers outside of Hawaii. In 1966, Chavez’s organization officially became the United Farm Workers. (From Workday Minnesota)