Labor History

1800s Today in Labor History March 15, 1877: Ben Fletcher, African-American IWW organizer was born on this date. Fletcher organized longshoremen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Today in Labor History March 15, 1887: The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades was founded. Within a year, they had 7,000 members in 100 locals. Today they represent more […]

Today in Labor History March 14, 1883: Karl Marx died at age 64. March 14, 1914: The United Farmers of Ontario was founded on this date at Toronto’s Labor Temple. Today in Labor History March 14, 1944: TWU organized Philadelphia transit workers into local 234. 1950s-1960s Today in Labor History March 14, 1954: Salt of

Today in Labor History March 13, 1697: Spanish conquistadors conquered Nojpeten, capital of the last independent Maya kingdom. This completed the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. 1800s Today in Labor History March 13, 1848: The German revolutions of 1848-1849 began in Vienna. Middle class participants were committed to liberal principles. Working class revolutionaries fought for radical

1910s-1920s Today in Labor History March 12, 1912: The IWW won their Bread and Roses textile strike in Lawrence, MA. This was the first strike to use the moving picket line, implemented to avoid arrest for loitering. The workers came from 24 different countries and spoke 22 different languages. To facilitate the challenging job of

Today in Labor History March 10, 1762: French authorities tortured Jean Calas to death on the rack. They had wrongly convicted the Huguenot of killing his son. They based their conviction and the torture on his religion. The event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform. 1800s Today in Labor History March 10,