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News Article | April 30, 2014
Ludlow Massacre Forges Mine Workers’ Struggle
Life was not easy a century ago for coal miners in Southern Colorado, where heavily industrialized mines produced high-grade coal needed by the steel and railway industries. The largest mining operation in the region, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I), was controlled by oil magnate John D. R...
News Article | February 28, 2014
Black Women Raise Their Voices in the Tobacco Industry
By 1938, Louise "Mamma" Harris had worked at the I.N. Vaughan Export stemmery in Richmond VA for nearly six years. The women who worked at Export were among the poorest in Richmond; they had to wrap themselves in tobacco burlap to stay warm in the winter. The stemmers earned an average of $3 a week...
News Article | December 31, 2013
APWU Helps Usher in the End of Apartheid
Twenty years ago South Africa held its first free and fair election. Amid violent attacks by groups seeking to disrupt the historic vote, a delegation of APWU representatives traveled to South Africa to act as election observers.
News Article | October 31, 2013
Photographer Honored Workers, Helped End Child Labor
In August, the Postal Service released a series of stamps honoring American workers. Many of the stamps’ images were captured in the 1930s by photographer Lewis Hine, whose pictures celebrate the skills, daring and dignity of the industrial workers who built the nation. But Hine was more than a gift...
News Article | August 31, 2013
1934: Southern Workers Spark Massive Textile Strike
In 1934, thousands of workers in Southern textile mills walked off the job seeking better pay and working conditions. The job actions they launched spread to New England and the Mid-Atlantic states and became one of the biggest industrial strikes in U. S. history. Though the strike was unsuccessful,...
News Article | June 30, 2013
To Stand Up, Auto Workers Sat Down
On Dec. 30, 1936, workers in Flint MI began a historic “sit down” strike that helped win union representation for auto assembly employees across the nation.
News Article | April 30, 2013
‘Dust Bowl Troubadour’ Sang for Unions, Justice
For more than a century, labor musicians have lifted spirits and helped build solidarity on union picket lines. But most Americans seldom heard labor’s voice — until one prolific entertainer helped popularize songs about the plight of everyday workers. Although he is mostly remembered as the man who...
News Article | February 28, 2013
Eleanor Roosevelt: ‘One of Us’
Although she belonged to a prominent New York family and could have chosen a life of leisure, Eleanor Roosevelt was a tireless advocate for social and economic justice.
News Article | December 31, 2012
Addie L. Wyatt: Labor, Civil Rights Leader
Last year we bid farewell to an important advocate for justice for working families everywhere: The Rev. Addie L. Wyatt. Though not widely known outside Chicago, the diminutive, African-American woman made important contributions that “helped open the way for redefining women’s roles within the gene...
News Article | October 31, 2012
Minnesota Timber Workers Triumph Over Lumber Barons
In 1937, at the height of the Great Depression, Minnesota’s timber workers triumphed over daunting odds to launch two successful strikes, achieve union recognition, and negotiate unprecedented improvements in wages and living conditions. Their success arose from a collective resolve to gain control...
News Article | August 31, 2012
Union Workers and 9-11
Following the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, the nation paid tribute to the workers who faced unimaginable danger when they responded to the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Three hundred fortythree firefighters and 72 police officers were among those who lost their lives, and...
News Article | June 30, 2012
Joe Glazer: Singer, Songwriter, Union Activist
Music has played an important role in the labor movement’s efforts to uplift, organize, and build solidarity among workers for more than a century. And for the past seven decades, singer-songwriter Joe Glazer dedicated his many talents to the fight for social and economic justice at union rallies an...
News Article | April 30, 2012
Exploited Children Organize, Defeat Newspaper Titans
Just over a century ago, several thousand child laborers captured the nation’s attention when they took on two of the nation’s biggest newspaper publishers. Their struggle exposed the exploitation of children and inspired workers, both young and old, to fight for better pay and working conditions.
News Article | February 29, 2012
Pecan Shellers’ Strike Sparked Hispanic Workers’ Movement
In Depression-era south Texas, a young Mexican-American woman broke tradition when she stood up for oppressed workers in her community and made an important contribution to the fight for social justice. Vilified by the conservative establishment that controlled San Antonio, she became a beloved lead...
News Article | December 31, 2011
In World War II, Black Women’s Army Unit Delivered
In 1945, an Army battalion of African-American women played an important role in U.S. efforts to defeat Nazi forces in Europe — even though many Americans questioned their right to serve. By processing a massive backlog of mail destined for the troops, these soldiers improved the morale of America’s...