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WWI(global)
Prior to World War I, unionists were still on a relatively short leash. From 1842 onward, unions had the clear legal right to exist, and workers could join such "self-help" organizations, but employers were under no obligation to "bargain" with these unions. The courts also tended (ultimately) to restrict union tactics such as threats of violence, violence itself, mob action, and interference with voluntary trade. Further, the courts tended to make little distinction between business and union " -
civil war (global)
Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves.
Civil War (1861-65) generates great wealth for growing corporations and
kicks off second industrial revolution which increases manufacturing
investment from $1 million to $12 million by 1900, and the number of
industrial workers grows from 23 to 79 million making the U.S. the world’s
number one manufacturing nation -
Great Southwest Railroad Strike
By the end of the 1800s, the American railroad was expanding quickly. In 1886, the Knights of Labor went on strike at the Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific railroads, owned by robber baron Jay Gould. Hundreds of thousands of workers across five states refused to work, citing unsafe conditions and unfair hours and pay. The strike suffered from a lack of commitment from other railroad unions, the successful hiring of nonunion workers by Gould and from violence and scare tactics. -
ILGWU Strike
The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) calls a strike in New York, demanding a 20-percent pay raise and a 52-hour workweek. Within two days, more than 20,000 workers from 500 factories walk off the job. This largely successful "Uprising of 20,000" is the largest labor action by women in the nation's history. -
First State Minimum Wage Law(law)
These laws specify the minimum amount that employers may pay their employees for doing a specified type of work. The first minimum-wage laws in the United States were passed by state legislatures in the mid-nineteenth century and applied only to women and children. Massachusetts adopts the first minimum wage law. Other states will pass similar laws beginning the same year. -
Federal Department of Labor Established(global)
The United States Department of Labor is established as a cabinet-level agency. Though established under President Taft, he signs the law after his defeat in the 1912 election. The Department will mostly emphasize the pro-labor stance of the incoming president, Woodrow Wilson, who appoints a United Mine Workers official as the first Secretary of Labor. -
WWII(Global)
In 1940, Congress passed the first peacetime draft compelling conscripts to serve in the military, a prelude to the command economy of World War II.[16] Of the 16 million who served in the armed forces during the war, 10 million were draftees, and a depression labor glut turned into a wartime shortage. Government policy shifted from promoting artificially high prices for labor services to keeping prices artificially low during wartime. A series of makeshift commissions and boards were charged wi -
Congress passes Labor-Management Reporting & Disclosure Act(Law)
Congress passes Labor-Management Reporting & Disclosure Act
(Landrum-Griffin) requiring unions to report finances to government,
regulating union internal affairs and providing Bill of Rights for union
members.
Half a million Steelworkers strike for 116 days against U.S. Steel ends in
victory for union against take-backs from management -
Postal Strike
More than 200,000 Post Office workers walk off the job in the first national strike of public employees. Though the action is illegal and President Nixon calls on the Army and National Guard to keep the mail moving, the two-week strike proves largely successful and ultimately leads to a modernization of the postal service. -
Air Traffic Controllers Strike
President Ronald Reagan fires the striking members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), calling the work stoppage illegal. Reagan's action and the demise of the union sets a new tone for labor-management relations across the country. Employers begin to take tough stands against unions and do not hesitate to replace strikers with replacements. -
Congress passes Family & Medical Leave Act and Americans withDisabilities Act(Law)
Disabilities Act protecting the rights of new parents and seriously ill workers
to leave without losing their jobs and the rights of the permanently disabled
to accommodation in the workplace.
Workers at A.E. Staley locked out after they conduct and in-plant
campaign against deadly working conditions and company demands for
12-hour shifts. Union solidarity campaign reaches entire country.
Caterpillar and Bridgestone Firestone in 1992 and 94 provoked strikes after
demanding concessions. The Stale
