June 1

The Ladies Federal Labor Union Number 2703, based in Illinois, was granted a charter from the American Federation of Labor. Women from a wide range of occupations were among the members, who ultimately were successful in coalescing women’s groups interested in suffrage, temperance, health, housing, and child labor reform to win state legislation in these areas – 1888
 

Also on this date: Union Carpenters win a 25-cents-per-day raise, bringing wages for a nine-hour day to $2.50. Congress passes the Erdman Act, providing for voluntary mediation or arbitration of railroad disputes and prohibiting discrimination against union labor. 3,500 immigrant miners begin Clifton-Morenci, Ariz. copper strike. 12,500 longshoremen strike the Pacific coast, from San Diego to Bellingham. As many as 60,000 railroad shopmen strike to protest cuts in wages. Mexican government abolishes siestas. Farm workers under the banner of the new United Farm Workers Organizing Committee strike at Texas’s La Casita Farms. Dakota Beef meatpackers win 7-hour sit-down strike over speed-ups. General Motors filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, the largest U.S. industrial company to enter bankruptcy protection.

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