Labor-Union Trivia

[Omaha Steve]

January 20, 2008

1. Name the movie in which actress Holly Hunter portrays the wife of a Kentucky coal miner and subsequently becomes involved in a bitter labor dispute.
2. What is the basis of the classic film, Salt of the Earth?
3. This movie was about the organizing of the Pullman Rail Company porters and starred Andre Braugher as the legendary labor leader A. Phillip Randolph.
4. This documentary focused on two events which took place in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968. A strike by sanitation workers and the murder of a civil rights leader.
5. John Sweeny, who went on to head the AFL-CIO, previously worked as a research assistant for this union.
6. Name the unions within the United States that are affiliated with the Global Union Federation, Public Services International.
7. What is the name of the largest trade union in the world which was formed in Germany, 2001?
8. Which trade union organizations merged to form the Global Union Federation, Union Network International?
9. Which two labor groups merged in 1993 to form the Global Union Federation, Education International?
10. Name the trade union organization that evovled from the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions.
11. Which international organization was formed in London, England, 1949, as a counter labor group to the World Federation of Trade Unions?
12. What type of labor organizations are comprised of and affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions?
13. Where is the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, a global organization presently headquarted?
14. Name the international trade union confederation which releases an annual report of violations of trade union rights worldwide.
15. Who served as the first president of the United Auto Workers?
16. Did the United Auto Workers ever withdraw from the AFL-CIO?
17. In 1872 who assisted Samuel Gompers in forming the United Cigarmakers, which included membership of women and immigrants?
18. Name the labor organization which formerly published the magazine "American Federationist"?
19. In 1917 who took over the leadership of the United Mine Workers upon the resignation of John White?
20. Which type of workforce first used the labor tactic known as the "blue flu"?


1. In 1965 Cesar Chavez organized a nationwide boycott involving what type of fruit?
2. What do the initials ERISA represent?
3. Who was Joseph Hillstrum?
4. Name the person elected president of the National Labor Union (N.L.U.) in 1868.
5. Who was appointed the first U.S. Secretary of the Department of Labor?
6. Was the former Teamsters leader Jimmy R. Hoffa born in the U.S.A.?
7. In 1917 federal agents raided the offices in 48 cities of this labor organization.
8. In which state did the "Battle of Matewan" take place?
9. In 1894, who unseated Samuel Gompers as the President of the American Federation of Labor?
10. What type of action did the United Rubber Workers conduct at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber company in 1936?
11. Name the union which was the first to use the Union Label.
12. A strike in 1909 New York called the "Uprising of the 20,000, involved what type of workforce?
13. What is the "union bug"?
14. Which International union did John Sweeney head before he was elected as President of the AFL-CIO?
15. In which state did the Phelps-Dodge copper strike of 1983 take place?
16. Do labor mediators and arbitrators have the same function and responsibilities?
17. Who orignally classified Walter Reuther as the most dangerous man in Detroit?
18. Where was the location of the 1869 Avondale mine disaster?
19. Where was the first textile mill established?
20. When, where and who was invovled in the first building trades strike?


1. When and where was the first cigar factory opened?
2. In 1859 where was the Iron Moulders Union formed?
3. In 1869 who was elected president of the Daughters of St. Crispin?
4. What was the Garfield Assembly?
5. Name the organization that in 1903, elected Jane Addams as vice-president?
6. Who wrote "The Jungle", that exposed safety and sanitation hazards of the Chicago meatpacking industry?
7. In 1915 what law was enacted to regulate working conditions for seamen?
8. Name the labor organization invovled in the 1917 strike at the Bisbee, Arizona copper mines.
9. When, where, and who was invovled in the first public safety workers strike?
10. Which state created the first unemployment insurance act?
11. Whom did Philip Murray replace as president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)?
12. What federal legislation allows states to pass right-to-work laws?
13. Who gave federal worker's unions the right to bargain collectively with government agencies?
14. Name the federal law which prohibits discrimination in employment based on color, sex, race, religion, and national origin.
15. Which two unions in 1968 formed the Alliance for Labor Action?
16. Name the union invovled in the Homestead strike against Carnegie steel.
17. Name the union within the printing trades which in 1906 had a successful strike for the 8-hour day.
18. With which company did the United Auto Workers sign the first union-shop agreement
19. Name the coalition of workers which was formed in 1974 in Chicago.
20. Who was the first woman to sit on the AFL-CIO executive board?


1. Who wrote labor's anthem, "Solidarity Forever"?
2. Name the union that Fannie Sellins helped organize.
3. In 1909, what happened at the Cherry coal mine in Illinois?
4. In 1898, what did the passage of the "Erdman Act" law provide?
5. Name the legislation signed into law that prohibited federal injunctions in labor disputes and outlawed yellow-dog contracts.
6. Name the U.S. president that signed the Social Security Act into law.
7. In 1952, who was elected president of the AFL-CIO?
8. Which state was the first to allow local and state government employees the right to strike?
9. Where is Mary "Mother" Jones laid to rest?
10. Name the labor leader that on May 09, 1970 was killed in a plane crash.
11. Which international union was once headed by I.W. Abel?
12. In 1971 this union merged with the United Steel Workers of America.
13. Can you name the two labor leaders that pioneered the drive to organize the steel industry?
14. Name the great union formed in May of 1942 in Cleveland, Ohio.
15. What is the definition of "industrial munitions" which were used by employers in the 1930's?
16. Mother Jones was an organizer with this labor group before she became associated with the mineworkers.
17. Dating back to the company towns and stores, what was the purpose of a "scrip"?
18. Name this 1976 movie in which actor David Carradine portrayed Woody Guthrie.
19. Name this 1979 movie in which actor Ron Leibman portrayed a union organizer.
20. Name the labor union which in 1869 was headed by Isaac Myers.


1. What are the duties of a National Labor Relations Board field examiner?
2. Who was Uriah Stephens?
3. Can you name the organization which evolved from the Federation of Organized Trades?
4. What union was organized by James R. Hoffa before he was associated with the Teamsters?
5. Was Eugene Debs ever elected to a political office?
6. During the 1860's, who were the workers called "bunchbreakers"?
7. Name the individual that was responsible for the creation of the American Railway Union in 1893.
8. Who made this famous quote, "Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living"?
9. What did the passage of the Adamson Act law establish?
10. Where was Harry Bridges who headed the ILWU, born?
11. Within a collective bargaining agreement, what is an "Evergreen" clause?
12. In what part of the United States did the infamous Molly Maguires reside?
13. Which labor body was once headed by Phillip Murray?
14. This organization founded in 1886, the Workmen's Benevolent Association, represented what type of work force?
15. What labor union was formed from the National Farm Workers' Association?
16. What is the definition of a "pie card"?
17. Who or what is the sabo-tabby?
18. Who headed the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 until 1960?
19. In the trucking industry, who is refered to as "gypsies"?
20. Who created the motto, "A fair day's wage for a fair day's work"?


1. In 1936-37 where did the Flint sit-down take place?
2. What is the name of this classic film which starred Henry Fonda as a migrant worker?
3. In the building and construction trades, what is the definiton of the term "double-breasted"?
4. Who was the founder of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union?
5. In 1925, who founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters?
6. Who were the "Knights of St. Crispin?"
7. Where did the Homestead strike of 1892 take place?
8. Who was refered to as the "Joan of Arc of the Industrial Workers of the World?
9. What is the name of the legislation also known as the prevailing-wage law?
10. In 1834, what organization was formed in the first attempt to create a national labor federation?
11. Name the 1880's labor organization headed by Terrence Powderly.
12. Name the film which chronicled the courageous fight of 180 coal miners for dignity and fairness, that in 1976 won an Academy Award for "Best Documentary".
13. Name the movie in which Richard Pryor portrayed an autoworker.
14. Name the infamous labor leader portrayed by actor Jack Nicholson.
15. In which movie did Marlon Brando utter the famous phrase, "I Coulda Been a Contender"?
16. Name the movie in which Sylvester Stallone portrayed a union leader.
17. In what city was the Steel Workers' Organizing Committee formed?
18. What was the name of the labor organization in which "Big Bill" Hayward served as President of Local 66?
19. Name the first president of the American Federation of Labor?
20. Jerry Wurf headed which International Union?


1. In what year was the American Federation of Labor founded?
2. In 1938, what did the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act establish?
3. Where was the first Labor Day parade held?
4. In the time period of 1888 thru 1892 who headed the Ladies Federal Labor Union?
5. Which union was re-admitted into the AFL-CIO ranks in 1987?
6. Who was the first female organizer for the American Federation of Labor?
7. What was the name of the sweatshop in New York City where 140 people were killed during a fire?
8. Who was convicted of the murder of Joseph Yablonski?
9. What was the name of the labor organization for women founded by Mary O'Sullivan, Jane Addams, and Mary Kehew?
10. What "International Body" did Samuel Gompers help create?
11. What is a "yellow dog contract"?
12. Who was the U.S. Senator responsible for the National Labor Relations Act?
13. Which labor union was involved in the "Centralia Massacre"?
14. Who was responsible for forming the Committee for Industrial Organization?
15. In which state did the "Lattimer Massacre" take place?
16. Who was the co-founder and first leader of the United Farm Workers?

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