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First labor strike in America
New York journeymen tailors protested a wage reduction -
Knights of Labor created
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Molly Maguires
Molly Maguires, a secret society of Irish immigrants, are an impediment to the Reading Railroad so the Pinkerton Detective Agency is hired to destroy the organization. The men are eventually put on trial and 20 are sentenced to death. -
Knights of Labor made public
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First Labor Day celebration
Organized by New York City's Central Labor Union, more than 10,000 people gathered in lower Manhattan to join the parade -
Haymarket Square Riot
What started out as a peaceful protest for an 8 hour work day turned into a riot when police threw a bomb into the crowd. The riot resulted in one death and many injuries. -
American Federation of Labor founded
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Labor Day made a holiday in Oregon
Oregon is the first day to make Labor Day an official holiday. -
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Homestead Steel Strike
Falling steel prices forced Carnegie and Frick to lower wages. When the union refused to agree to the new terms Frick closed down the mills but a few days later the workers seized it and sealed the town from strike breakers -
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Pullman Strike
A nationwide railroad boycott that disrupted rail traffic. Pullman laid off and cut wages for hundreds of employees but did not lower the rent or store prices of the company town -
Labor Day made a Federal holiday
Congress passes legislation making the first Monday in September a holiday to recognize labor and President Cleveland signs the bill into law.
