Today in Labor History Dec 21 Powered by children 7 to 12 years old working dawn to dusk $1 per week

[Omaha Steve]

December 21

Powered by children 7 to 12 years old working dawn to dusk, Samuel Slater’s thread-spinning factory goes into production in Pawtucket, R.I., launching the Industrial Revolution in America. By 1830, 55 per cent of the mill workers in the state were youngsters, many working for less than $1 per week - 1790

December 21, 1917 - The Minneapolis Cooperative Association was organized at Federation Hall. The company was set up to sell groceries to union members on a cooperative basis.

Supreme Court rules that picketing is unconstitutional. Chief Justice (and former president) William Howard Taft declared that picketing was, in part, "an unlawful annoyance and hurtful nuisance..." - 1921

December 21, 1986 - Over 50,000 students demonstrated in Shanghai's Peoples Square, for democracy and freedom in China.

Labor history found here: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_12_21_2009 & here: http://www.unionist.com/today-in-labor-history