'Big Bill' Haywood: The 'Wobbly' Giant
“Big Bill” Haywood was a big man with a big heart and a big dream – to build one big union for workers from every industry. He could break a man’s jaw with a single blow, but he wept openly when a poem moved him.
“Big Bill” was born William Dudley...
May Day: Fighting for the Eight-Hour Day
Chicago in the 1880s was a hotbed of labor organizing.
Fed up with the status quo, where industrial workers toiled long hours in squalid conditions, the International Working People’s Association formed in 1883 and dedicated its resources to...
From ‘Collective Begging’ Collective Bargaining
March 2015 marks the 45th anniversary of the Great Postal Strike of 1970. The courage and solidarity shown by thousands of union members during the wildcat job action resulted in vastly improved wages and benefits.
Rose Schneiderman Organizes Garment Workers in New York
Rose Schneiderman was a trailblazer for workers’ rights in the Lower East Side of New York City at the turn of the 20th Century. She organized and co-founded several unions, was a friend and advisor to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and was a...
A Look Back: The Charleston Five
Soon after dockworkers formed a picket line at the Port of Charleston, SC, in January 2000, five among them became the focus of worldwide protests and international solidarity – symbols of the fight for justice.
And after a 22-month battle, a...