Social Mvmts: The Labor Movement

In the U.S., the earliest free labor strike on record occurred In 1768 in New York, and workers have been struggling against the designs of industry ever since.This board surveys the labor movement in the U.S. and beyond, which formed from the need to establish protections for workers in the face of industry. For more information about the conditions workers face regarding the minimum wage and income inequality, check out our boards on "social class."

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The Sociological Cinema

May 25, 1805: In Philadelphia, leaders of a shoemakers' union are arrested for organizing one of the country's first strikes. They were brought to trial on criminal conspiracy charges of trying to raise their wages and convicted.

Mechanics' Union of Trade Associations - formed nearby in 1827 as the first central labor council in the nation: recognized as the beginning of American labor movement. Represented workers as a class, not by craft. Advocated for ten-hour day: engaged in political activism and workers education. At the intersection of Chestnut Street and Bank Street — in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

This image depicts the arrest of a "Molly Maguire, an Irish 19th-century secret society. The "Mollies," as they came to be known, expanded to the United States and were comprised of Irish-American and Irish immigrant coal miners in Pennsylvania. Source: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, September 4, 1875

Social Mvmts: Labor Protests (before 1890s)

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Raise the rent, lower the wages--and when workers strike, send in the troops. This failed capitalist utopia in 1890s Chicago turned into a case study in exploitation and greed Pullman, Illinois, in the late 19th century. The company town offered workers a home -- at the expense of labor exploitation and class division. "On May of 1894, thousands of workers went on strike without the support of a union and without a plan — what’s called a wildcat strike...

Immigrant miners in Illinois were soft-coal, deep-shaft miners who cut and loaded their daily quotas (as much as 5 tons) by hand. By the late 1890s, the Central Illinois coal miners were organized under the United Mine Workers (UMW) and had a strong democratic rank-and-file tradition. Prior to the Great War, the UMW supported strikes that protested harsh working conditions, sporadic shut-downs that threw miners out of work, and increasing mechanization. [Click to read more]

"The Great Railway Strikes--the first meat train leaving the Chicago stock-yards under escort of United States cavalry, July 16, 1894" This image represents the Pullman Strike (May 11, 1894–c. July 20, 1894), which was a widespread railroad strike and boycott that severely disrupted rail traffic in the Midwest of the United States. The federal government’s response to the unrest marked the first time that an injunction was used to break a strike... Artist: G.W. Peters

Social Mvmts: Labor Protests (1890s)

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A man named Frank Curry was hired by industry to bring "scab" labor into Chicago to break strikes. In this image, an effigy of Frank Curry has been hung over over 42nd Street and Wentworth Avenue during the Chicago City Railway Strike, November 19, 1903. Photo credit: Chicago Daily News collection / Chicago History Museum / Getty Images

On November 14, 1903 the National Women’s Trade Union League was formed. It was organized as a coalition of working-class women, professional reformers & women from wealthy families. Its purpose was to help women secure conditions necessary for healthful & efficient work. In this image, members of the WTUL of New York pose with a banner calling for the 8-hour day. Photo credit: Kheel Center, Cornell University.

"Industrial Unionism - Abolition of the Wage System. Join the I.W.W. Freedom from Wage Slavery" The "One Big Union" is a motto of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), founded in Chicago in 1905 and continuing today with several thousand members in the USA, Canada, Britain, and in a handful of other countries.

Social Mvmts: Labor Protests (1900s)

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"This anarchist paper from Spokane is the limit. It says a working man can' get rich by saving his money. T'aint so. Here's a respectable paper. It says: everybody can be successful if he only makes up his mind. That's the dope." --------------------------------- On November 7, 1912, the famous Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) comic strip "Mr. Block" first appeared in print and featured a character with a wooden block head and no class consciousness. Artist: Ernest Riebe

Striking miners at the Ruhr River reading an enactment by the district president at the gate of the coalmine that permits police the early use of firearms, March 1912 Photo credit: Berliner Illustrations Gesellschaft / ullstein bild

“Diseases & Crimes - Tree of All Evil” (1912), Nedeljkovich, Brashich, and Kuharich / IWW, Cleveland At the bottom, toward the right a man digs at a tree root, and the text behind him reads, "class-conscious workers, we have to destroy the cause of evil"

Social Mvmts: Labor Protests (1910s)

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In 1920 area miners went on strike to gain recognition of UMWA. On May 19 of the same year, twelve Baldwin-Felts Agency guards came from Bluefield to evict the miners from company houses. As guards left town, they argued with town police chief Sid Hatfield and Mayor Testerman. Shooting of undetermined origins resulted in the deaths of two coal miners, seven agents, and the mayor. None of the 19 men indicted were convicted, Matewan, West Virginia, 2008. Photo credit: Brandon Ray Kirk

"Women Support Labor" - Equal Pay for Equal Work Regardless of Gender, Race, Religion or Sexual Orientation. Unions Built This!

Social Mvmts: Labor Protests (1920s)

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The 1932 Ford Hunger March Massacre: The Unemployed Get Bullets, Not Bread - On March 7th, 1932, Dearborn, MI, police officers and thugs from Ford’s brutal “Service Department” opened fire on unarmed demonstrators. The protest which had originally been called “the Ford Hunger March” had just become a massacre. Please read more at : http://www.pennfedbmwe.org/?zone=%2Funionactive%2Fview_article.cfm=95500

Wisconsin Farmers Strike, May 24, 1933 On October 21, 1933: In an attempt to raise the price of milk, Wisconsin dairy farmers begin the third major milk strike of the year in the state. During the Great Depression, farmers who produced milk for bottling were able to remain solvent, but those who produced milk for cheese, butter, and other uses were driven into poverty. The initial strike involved farmers primarily in Rusk, Price Shawano counties. (via Today in Labor History, on Tumblr)

"We Want the 40 Hour Week." 1934. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 mandated a 40-hour work week with time-and-a half overtime pay. The legislation was passed to eliminate “labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency, and the general well-being of workers.” [click on this image to find an analysis of the role of low wage work in the global economy]

Social Mvmts: Labor Protests (1930s)

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"Wipe out discrimination against race, religions, on the job, in restaurants, in housing...CIO says 'Wipe out discrimination,'" c. 1947. Though labor unions havent been uniform in their support of civil rights & against discrimination, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) National Committee to Abolish Discrimination was formed during WWII to eliminate discriminatory practices in all CIO locals. Source: Kheel Center Poster Collection

"If his right to work is taken away...you're next! Make Congress stop stalling on FEPC [Federal Fair Employment Practices Commission] legislation," c. 1941 Though labor unions havent been uniform in their support of civil rights & against discr., the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) Nat. Committee to Abolish Discrimination was formed during WW2 to eliminate discriminatory practices. Source: Kheel Center Poster Collection

On January 21, 1946, 750,000 steelworkers walked off the job, joining what would become known as the Great strike wave of 1946. The post-World War II strike wave was not limited to industrial workers; there were more strikes in transportation, communication, and public utilities than in any previous year. By the end of 1946, 4.6 million workers had been involved in strikes. via Today In Labor History (http://todayinlaborhistory.tumblr.com/)

Social Mvmts: Labor Protests (1940s)

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On May 2, 1952: 1,200 retail employees – most of them women – begin a strike at Dupuis Freres, a major department store in Montreal, Canada, when negotiations with management reached a standstill nearly two years after trying to get a first contract. The strike lasted for three months until the store’s manager was replaced with someone willing to negotiate with the union. Source: Source : Archives - HEC Montréal; h/t Today in Labor History (http://todayinlaborhistory.tumblr.com/)

"Support the National Negro Labor Council - Stop Discrimination in Employment...Say, 'We won't ride if negroes can't drive.' Democratize Yellow Cab" 1950s poster calling for non-discrimination in the hiring of San Francisco taxicab drivers. The NNLC was founded in Detroit in 1951. It was disbanded in 1956 under pressure from the federal government. Poster by Frank Rowe.

Social Mvmts: Labor Protests (1950s)

4 Pins

The League of Revolutionary Black Workers emerged in Detroit in the late 1960s in response to police brutality, poor living conditions, and limited jobs. The League’s perspective was unique among social movements of the era in its focus on the exploitation of black workers, particularly as it pertained to the immense profits of the “Big Three” auto companies (Ford, GM, and Chrysler).

Japanese coal miners, wearing protective clothing, form a human barricade to prevent strikebreakers from entering the Mitsui Miike mine at Kumamoto, May 19, 1960 Photo credit: Keystone / Getty Images

Dolores Huerta rallies workers for a protest, April 8, 1962

Social Mvmts: Labor Protests (1960s)

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Boycott Coors - Don't Buy Coors - "Coors workers are on strike! Which side are you on? Lie-dector test must be taken by all my employees!! Signed: Joe Coors," c. 1970

"Black Workers and the Class Struggle" - New Outlook Publishers, 1972. Author: Roscoe Proctor

Social Mvmts: Labor Protests (1970s)

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This is an image from the British Miners’ Strike of 1984-1985. On March 6, 1984, the Thatcher government announced plans to immediately begin closing 20 coal mines, and its intentions to eventually close over 70 more pits. Following the announcement, miners led by the National Union of Mineworkers participated in mass walk-outs and strikes, including the famous Battle of Orgreave. Photo credit: John Sturrock

Social Mvmts: Labor Protests (1980s)

Most people don't fully appreciate how brave prison strikers are...

International Workers of the World

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Raise the rent, lower the wages--and when workers strike, send in the troops. This failed capitalist utopia in 1890s Chicago turned into a case study in exploitation and greed Pullman, Illinois, in the late 19th century. The company town offered workers a home -- at the expense of labor exploitation and class division. "On May of 1894, thousands of workers went on strike without the support of a union and without a plan — what’s called a wildcat strike...

The Sociological Cinema

Immigrant miners in Illinois were soft-coal, deep-shaft miners who cut and loaded their daily quotas (as much as 5 tons) by hand. By the late 1890s, the Central Illinois coal miners were organized under the United Mine Workers (UMW) and had a strong democratic rank-and-file tradition. Prior to the Great War, the UMW supported strikes that protested harsh working conditions, sporadic shut-downs that threw miners out of work, and increasing mechanization. [Click to read more]

an old black and white drawing of men on horses riding down the street with people watching

Pullman Strike, 1894

"The Great Railway Strikes--the first meat train leaving the Chicago stock-yards under escort of United States cavalry, July 16, 1894" This image represents the Pullman Strike (May 11, 1894–c. July 20, 1894), which was a widespread railroad strike and boycott that severely disrupted rail traffic in the Midwest of the United States. The federal government’s response to the unrest marked the first time that an injunction was used to break a strike... Artist: G.W. Peters

"A Garland For May Day - 1895" Follow this link to find Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm's account of the international celebration of Mayday: https://libcom.org/history/birth-holiday-first-may Artist: Walter Crane / University of Michigan, Labadie Collection

an advertisement for the labor history event in which there are people walking down the street

September 10, 1897: Striking immigrant anthracite coal miners raise an American flag and march on the still-open mine in Lattimer, Pennsylvania. They were met by the local sheriff and Coal and Iron Police deputies. The sheriff ordered the workers to disperse and the deputies opened fire, killing 19 and wounding as many as 49 others. All those killed in the Lattimer Massacre were shot in the back; the sheriff and 73 deputies were arrested, tried, and acquitted.

an old black and white photo of a man holding a baseball bat in front of a car

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Ford Hunger March Massacre, 1932

The 1932 Ford Hunger March Massacre: The Unemployed Get Bullets, Not Bread - On March 7th, 1932, Dearborn, MI, police officers and thugs from Ford’s brutal “Service Department” opened fire on unarmed demonstrators. The protest which had originally been called “the Ford Hunger March” had just become a massacre. Please read more at : http://www.pennfedbmwe.org/?zone=%2Funionactive%2Fview_article.cfm=95500

a comic strip with an image of a man on the floor and another cartoon about him

"This anarchist paper from Spokane is the limit. It says a working man can' get rich by saving his money. T'aint so. Here's a respectable paper. It says: everybody can be successful if he only makes up his mind. That's the dope." --------------------------------- On November 7, 1912, the famous Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) comic strip "Mr. Block" first appeared in print and featured a character with a wooden block head and no class consciousness. Artist: Ernest Riebe

May 25, 1805: In Philadelphia, leaders of a shoemakers' union are arrested for organizing one of the country's first strikes. They were brought to trial on criminal conspiracy charges of trying to raise their wages and convicted.

there is a blue sign on the side of this building that says, meridian institution of trade association

Working Men

August 11

Lost

Mechanics' Union of Trade Associations - formed nearby in 1827 as the first central labor council in the nation: recognized as the beginning of American labor movement. Represented workers as a class, not by craft. Advocated for ten-hour day: engaged in political activism and workers education. At the intersection of Chestnut Street and Bank Street — in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

an old drawing of a woman standing in front of a group of people on a street

"Arrest of an Irishman"

This image depicts the arrest of a "Molly Maguire, an Irish 19th-century secret society. The "Mollies," as they came to be known, expanded to the United States and were comprised of Irish-American and Irish immigrant coal miners in Pennsylvania. Source: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, September 4, 1875

an old black and white drawing of people standing in front of a train

Baltimore And Ohio Railroad

Pennsylvania Railroad

Harpers Ferry

University Of Virginia

The Great Railroad Strike, 1877

The Great Railroad Strike began in Martinsburg, West Virginia when the Baltimore & Ohio railroad company reduced wages for the second time that year. The strike spread to other states, and in response, state militias mobilized, resulting in several bloody clashes. At least 10 workers died in Cumberland, Maryland, July 14, 1877.