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13th Amendment
This Amendments abolished slavery, following the aftermath of the Civil War. This was written because many African Americans at the borders were victims of slavery. Which most where used for heavy labour and were malnourished. -
Knights of Labor
This group of secret society of tailors started in Philadelphia in 1869. By 1886, the group had more than 700,000 members. Their commitment was to seek eight-hour shift day, abolition of child labour, equal pay, and political reforms. Their first leader was Urian Smith Stephens. -
Haymarket Riot
Workers began to form a rally in support of striking for an 8 hour shift day. This was the aftermath of a bombing that took place in the Haymarket Square in Chicago a day before. Since 8 people died in the bombing, the result of the riot was also violent. -
Samuel Gompers
English-born American labour union leader, was a key figure in American labour history. Gomes founded the American Federation of Labor, Federation of Organized Trades and Labour Unions, and Cigar Makers' International Union. The AFL was from 1886 to 1894. -
Pullman Strike
When the Pullman Railroad Company laid off workers, increased working hours, cut wages, workers began to protest. It was one of the first nationwide railroad strike in the U.S., which brought attention to the federal government. -
Textile Workers
Textile workers across the southern U.S. went on strike because of low wages and lack of Labor representation in the National Recovery Administration (NRA) textile regulatory. During Sep 1934, about 65,000 North Carolina textile workers stayed home, shutting down the state's textile industry. -
The Wagner Act
This act's purpose was to establish the legal right of most workers to organize or join labour unions and to bargain collectively with their employers. It involved the federal government in the protection of unjust treatment of workers. -
1930s General Motors Sit Down Strike
Autoworkers went on a strike to have recognition of the United Auto Workers (UAW). They wanted to make the company to stop sending work to non-union plants and establish a fair minimum wage scale. The strike lasted 44 days. -
Fair Labour Standards Act of 1938
This act banned child labour, reduced work hours to 44 hours per week, and established the first minimum wage of 25 cents per hour. Children under age 4 were no longer legally allowed to work, including mining and factory unions. This landmark piece of legislation had a significant impact on the labour movement in the U.S. -
Taft-Hartley
Both houses of Congress saw that the Union abused their power under the Wagner Act. So this act also known as the Labor Mangement Relations Act, only permitted union shops only where the state law allowed and when a majority of workers voted for them. It also required unions to give 60 days advance notification of they planned a strike.
