1800s
Today in Labor History December 1, 1834: Britain abolished slavery in the Cape Colony in accordance with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. However, slaves were required to continue working for their masters as “apprentices” until 1838, when their servitude actually ended.
1900s
Today in Labor History December 1, 1904: W. A. “Tough Tony” Boyle, future president of the United Mine Workers of America was born. In 1974, a court convicted him of conspiracy in the murder of opponent Joseph A. Yablonski, his wife Margaret, and their daughter Charlotte in 1969. He died while serving three life terms. Yablonski had been fighting for more democratic representation among the locals. He had lost to Boyle in a presidential election he charged was fraudulent.
Today in Labor History December 1, 1908: As Brazil and Argentina prepared for war, workers on both sides of the border protested.
1910s
Today in Labor History December 1, 1912: The rustling card system was put into place by the Anaconda Mining and Smelter Company. Rustling cards verified employees’ identities and employment status. The company used spies to identify union agitators and refused them rustling cards and jobs. In 1920, the IWW called a strike at the mines around Butte. They demanded the end of the rustling cards system, the 8-hour day and higher wages. On 4/21/1920, guards opened fire on unarmed picketers, killing one and injuring sixteen. Dashiell Hammett depicted the strike in his first novel, “Red Harvest.”
December 1, 1914: The famous labor song, “Solidarity Forever,” was written on this date by IWW songwriter Ralph Chaplin. He wrote the song for a hunger march to be led by Lucy Parsons in Chicago (on January 17, 1915).
1950s-1960s
Today in Labor History December 1, 1955: Rosa Parks, a 43-year-old African-American seamstress, refused to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The authorities arrested her, triggering a year-long boycott of the city bus system. It also led to legal actions which ended racial segregation on municipal buses throughout the south.
December 1, 1966: The Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association (YGDNA) became the first nurses in Ohio to engage in a mass resignation or “strike.” According to the American Nurses Association, it may have been the first concerted action by nurses in a labor dispute in the nation.