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Lowell Mill Women Create First Union of Working Women
In the 1830s, half a century before the better-known mass movements for workers' rights in the United States, the Lowell mill women organized, went on strike and mobilized in politics when women couldn't even vote—and created the first union of working women in American history. -
National Labor Union Founded
First national labor federation in the United States. This paved the way for other organizations, such as the Knights of Labor and the AFL (American Federation of Labor). It was led by William H. Sylvis. -
Knights of Labor and Colored National Labor Union formed
formed by African Americans to organize their labor collectively on a national level. African Americans were excluded from existing labor unions, such as when white workers formed the National Labor Union -
Homestead Strike
The 1892 Homestead strike in Pennsylvania and the ensuing bloody battle instigated by the steel plant's management remain a transformational moment in U.S. history,The skilled workers at the steel mills in Homestead,, were members of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers who had bargained exceptionally good wages and work rules. Homestead's management, with millionaire Andrew Carnegie as owner, was determined to lower its costs of production by breaking the union. -
The Battle of Cripple Creek
These days, the town of Cripple Creek, Colo., is best known for casinos—14 of them. A century ago, Cripple Creek was famous for important, dramatic battles where workers fought to win their rights.
It all began in 1894. Cripple Creek had become a boom town after gold was discovered. Some 150 mines sprang up. So did a strong miners union—the Free Coinage Union No. 19, which was part of the militant Western Federation of Miners -
McKees Rock Strike: Turning Point for Immigrant Workers
Eugene V. Debs, arguably the foremost union activist in American history. immigrant workers rose up and changed the course of American unionism. -
LA Times Bombing
A bomb explodes at the headquarters of the stridently anti-union Los Angeles Times, killing twenty people. Eventually two men connected with the Iron Workers Union, which has been implicated in other bombings, will confess to dynamiting the Times. -
The Fair Labor Standards Act
This law establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards. This law protects the earnings of the union workers, they no longer have to participate in strikes to ask for more money. Minimum wage is set to allow almost every job to support the living of the workers, the unions no longer have to fight for more money as often as they used to. Overtime pay is given to the hardest workers within the unions. -
Taft Harley Act
United States federal law that restricts the activities and power of labor unions. This law banned the ability to be able to force unions onto people. After this law was passed, people were no longer forced to be involved with the unions, so they could now decide. -
Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA)
This law protects union funds and promotes union democracy by requiring the labor organizations to file annual financial reports. This law also deals with the relationship between a union and its members. It also establishes standards for the election of the union officers. -
Kennedy Legalizes Public Employee Unions
An order by President Kennedy allows federal employees to organize, join unions, and bargain collectively with the government. It does not give them the right to strike. The move begins an era of public employee unionization. -
Atlanta's Washerwomen Strike
With slavery less than two decades behind them, thousands of black laundresses went on strike for higher wages, respect for their work and control over how their work was organized. In the summer of 1881, the laundresses took on Atlanta’s business and political establishment and gained so much support that they threatened to call a general strike, which would have shut the city down.
