Labor History: Feb 2 300 newsboys organize, 16,000 & 32,000 silk workers strike, more

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.unionist.com/big-labor/today-in-labor-history & http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_02_02_2012



Feb. 2, 1917
Three hundred newsboys organized to protest a cut in pay by the Minneapolis Tribune.

Much of the newsboys' colorful history is chronicled on the pages of the Minneapolis Labor Review. To view actual pages of the newspaper, visit the Labor Review archive. A link can be found on the homepage of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, www.minneapolisunions.org


Sixteen thousand silk workers in Paterson, NJ and 32,000 in Lawrence, Mass. strike for shorter work week with no cut in pay - 1919


Women have had to fight for their rightful place in American life -- the right to own property, to vote, to work in "men’s" jobs. They’ve had to fight for their place in the labor movement as well, and Rocking the Boat: Union Women’s Voices 1915-1975 does a great job of recounting that struggle. Brigid O Farrell and Joyce L. Kornbluh tell the stories of eleven dedicated union women from a wide range of backgrounds and how they dealt with issues of work, sex, fear, leadership and tradition to become activists and leaders in their unions. In the UCS bookstore now.


Feb. 2, 1935
In a message to Congress, President Franklin Roosevelt declared: "The rights of employees freely to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining should be fully protected."

Legal secretary Iris Rivera fired for refusing to make coffee; secretaries across Chicago protest - 1977

The 170-day lockout (although management called it a strike) of 22,000 steelworkers by USX Corp. ends with a pay cut but greater job security. It was the longest work stoppage in the history of the U.S. steel industry - 1987