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Knights of Labor founded
The Knights of Labor (KOL), officially known as the "Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor. It began as a secret society, but quickly grew into the largest and most significant labor organization in the U.S. by the 1880s. -
Strike by Pullman rialroad workers
The strike not only "helped split the movement, but also raised the doubts about the power of unskilled workers to win their demands" (Fossum, 1999, p. 33). It happened because Pullman refused to lower rent prices. -
ILGWU Founded
The eleven Jewish men who founded the union represented seven local unions from East Coast cities with heavy Jewish immigrant populations. This was partly due to the men’s insistence that only “skilled” workers could effectively organize, partly to the sex-segregated nature of the industry, which kept women in relatively less skilled jobs, and partly to the rapid turnover of women garment workers who moved from job to job in search of better wages. -
Strike by ILGWU
Working in the terrible sweatshop conditions of turn of the century New York, young immergent women were no longer going to tolerate 70 hour work weeks, buying their own thread, no washroom breaks and low piece work pay. The work week was to be limited to 52 hours, workers were given four holidays with pay, employers were required to supply all tools necessary for the job, and a grievance committee was established to deal with individual issues that came up. -
Norris-La Guardia Act outlaws "yellow-dog" contracts
Imposed strict procedural limitations on issuing injunctions against strike activity, the act pointed the direction towards a more even-handed relationship between the judiciary and the nation's labor relations systems. the act was one of the first federal labor laws supporting organized labor and it marked a significant victory in labor reform. -
Wagner Act
The Wagner Act established the rights of employees to organize, join, or aid labor unions and to participate in collective bargaining through their representatives.The act also authorized unions to take "concerted action" for these purposes. -
Fair Labor Standards Act
It requires employers to pay covered employees who are not otherwise exempt at least the federal minimum wage and overtime pay of one-and-one-half-times the regular rate of pay. It also prohibits the employment of children under age 16 during school hours and in certain jobs deemed too dangerous. -
Taft-Hartley Act
The Taft-Hartley Act, passed in 1947, symbolized the anti-labor climate of postwar America. The Act is a United States federal law that monitors the activities and power of labor unions.
