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August 31, 2010
Forty Years Later, The Fight for Safety in the Workplace Goes On
Before passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in December 1970, millions of Americans risked their lives every time they reported for duty:...
June 30, 2010
The Battle of Blair Mountain
Following a wave of strikes, by 1920 the United Mine Workers (UMW) had succeeded in winning union contracts for miners across much of the nation, but...
April 30, 2010
Bloody Showdown on the Road to Union Rights
The mines of Appalachia were no place for the timid during the “coal wars” of the early 20th century. Following World War I, coal companies exploited...
December 31, 2009
Black Women Advance Labor’s Cause In an Unlikely Setting: 1881 Atlanta
A little known yet largely successful job action waged in 1881 by black women in Atlanta is credited with helping to set the stage for a century of la...
August 31, 2009
Studs Terkel: The Voice of Work and the American Worker
Late last year, the city of Chicago — and working people everywhere — lost a great voice when Louis “Studs” Terkel died at age 96. For more than 70 ye...
June 30, 2009
Sports Unions Work to Level the Playing Field
Although their average salary is considerably higher and their “work year” is much shorter, members of the nation’s four major sports unions share muc...
April 30, 2009
Esther Peterson: Advocate for Labor, Women, Consumers
Throughout her life, Esther Eggersten Peterson was “a powerful and effective catalyst for change,” notes a tribute to her in the National Women’s Hall...
December 31, 2008
Isaac Myers: Pioneer of the African-American Trade Union Movement
It’s not unusual for a labor leader to have humble beginnings. Isaac Myers started out literally at the bottom, applying sticky sealant to the hulls o...
October 31, 2008
Jack London: Famous Author Chronicled Workers’ Struggles
Though best known as the author of widely acclaimed adventure stories such as The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and To Build a Fire, Jack London also...
August 31, 2008
Andrew Furuseth: ‘The Abe Lincoln of the Sea’
The struggles of workers aboard commercial ships have seldom received much public attention, but some of history’s worst employment practices occurred...
June 30, 2008
Setting the Stage For the ‘Talent’ Unions
Among the catchphrases associated with the theatrical arts, “The Show Must Go On” is the most familiar. To workers, the phrase is more than a cliche:...
April 30, 2008
Ralph Fasanella: Self-Taught Artist Chronicled Workers’ Lives
By the time he started painting pictures at age 31, Ralph Fasanella had developed a strong disdain for the social and economic injustices he witnessed...
February 29, 2008
1912 Textile Strike Put Women in the Line of Fire
Early in the 20th Century, fully half of the 80,000 people living in Lawrence, MA, labored in its textile industry. The typical workplace was dimly li...
December 31, 2007
Bayard Rustin: Unsung Crusader for Social Justice
Although he was always at the forefront of the civil rights movement, Bayard Rustin’s contributions to the struggle are often overlooked. Perhaps best...
August 31, 2007
The History of Labor’s ‘Day’
The celebration of the first Monday in September as a holiday “is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achieve...
June 30, 2007
The 1911 Furniture Workers Strike
A century-old and nearly forgotten story about furniture workers who overcame deep cultural divisions to unite for their common good was recently put...
April 30, 2007
Pete Seeger: Activist, Master Songsmith
Even if you’ve never been to a labor rally, a civil rights demonstration, or a folk music concert, chances are you’ve been touched by the music of Pet...
February 28, 2007
Evelyn Dubrow: Labor’s Legendary Lobbyist
For two centuries, the lobbies adjacent to the U.S. House and Senate have attracted all sorts of “interest peddlers,” from the cigar-chomping agents o...
December 31, 2006
Frederick Douglass: Activist, Orator, Publisher, Statesman
Unquestionably, the single greatest leap forward in the quest for social and economic justice is the abolition of slavery. In the United States, after...
October 31, 2006
A Checkered Past
Offering a range of “private investigative” services, the Pinkerton Detective Agency was founded in 1850 and at first specialized in train robberies:...
August 31, 2006
Postal Workers ‘In the Line of Duty’
Postal workers are sworn to uphold the Constitution and protect the mail. Since 1775, we have honored our pledge to defend the security of the mail, o...
August 31, 2006
Postal Workers ‘In the Line of Duty’
Postal workers are sworn to uphold the Constitution and protect the mail. Since 1775, we have honored our pledge to defend the security of the mail, o...
June 30, 2006
John L. Lewis: A Giant Among Labor Leaders
A dominant figure in labor history, John L. Lewis was the founding force behind several national unions and a leader of the United Mine Workers of Ame...
June 30, 2006
John L. Lewis: A Giant Among Labor Leaders
A dominant figure in labor history, John L. Lewis was the founding force behind several national unions and a leader of the United Mine Workers of Ame...
April 30, 2006
Joe Hill: Labor’s Legendary Troubadour
At sunrise on Nov. 19, 1915, a firing squad at the Utah State Penitentiary executed a labor activist who many people believed had been falsely convict...
April 30, 2006
Joe Hill: Labor’s Legendary Troubadour
At sunrise on Nov. 19, 1915, a firing squad at the Utah State Penitentiary executed a labor activist who many people believed had been falsely convict...
February 28, 2006
Frances Perkins: Trailblazer for Workers’ Rights
In an era when few women had risen to positions of prominence, Frances Perkins in 1933 became the nation’s first female cabinet secretary. During her...
February 28, 2006
Frances Perkins: Trailblazer for Workers’ Rights
In an era when few women had risen to positions of prominence, Frances Perkins in 1933 became the nation’s first female cabinet secretary. During her...
December 31, 2005
The Post Office Department and Jim Crow
Although slavery had been outlawed, there were virtually no laws or regulations after the Civil War that provided African-Americans with protection ag...
December 31, 2005
The Post Office Department and Jim Crow
Although slavery had been outlawed, there were virtually no laws or regulations after the Civil War that provided African-Americans with protection ag...