Today in Labor History: March 6 Joe Hill, “the world’s largest unemployment line”, much more

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.unionist.com/big-labor/today-in-labor-history

Today in Labor History: March 06


The Sailors’ Union of the Pacific, a union of mariners, fishermen and boatmen working aboard U.S. flag vessels, is founded in San Francisco - 1885

The Knights of Labor picket to protest the practices of the Southwestern Railroad system, and the company's chief, high-flying Wall Street financier Jay Gould. Some 9,000 workers walked off the job, halting service on 5,000 miles of track. The workers held out for two months, many suffering from hunger, before they finally returned to work - 1886

Joe Hill’s song “There is Power in a Union” appears in Little Red Song Book, published by the Wobblies -

With the Great Depression underway, hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers demonstrated in some 30 cities and towns; close to 100,000 filled Union Square in New York City and were attacked by mounted police - 1930

Int’l Brotherhood of Paper Makers merges with United Paperworkers of America to become United Papermakers & Paperworkers - 1957

The federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act is enacted - 1970

Predominantly young workers at a Lordstown, Ohio, GM assembly plant stage a wildcat strike, largely in objection to the grueling work pace: at 101.6 cars per hour, their assembly line was believed to be the fastest in the world - 1972

President Jimmy Carter invoked the Taft-Hartley law to halt the 1977-78 national contract strike by the United Mine Workers of America. The order was ignored and Carter did little to enforce it. A settlement was reached in late March - 1978

The U.S. Department of Labor reports that the nation’s unemployment rate soared to 8.1 percent in February, the highest since late 1983, as cost-cutting employers slashed 651,000 jobs amid a deepening recession - 2009

Five thousand people in New York City form what they term “the world’s largest unemployment line,” stretching from Wall Street to Union Square, holding pink slips over their heads for 14 minutes in solidarity with the nation’s 14 million unemployed workers. The action was sponsored by the city’s central labor council, Occupy Wall Street, and at least a dozen other organizations - 2012

[Peace Patriot]

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