May 9

Hollywood studio mogul Louis B. Mayer recognizes the Screen Actors Guild.  SAG leaders reportedly were bluffing when they told Mayer that 99 percent of all actors would walk out the next morning unless he dealt with the union.  Some 5,000 actors attended a victory gathering the following day at Hollywood Legion Stadium; a day later, SAG membership increased 400 percent – 1937

 Also on this date: Japanese workers strike at Oahu, Hawaii’s Aiea Plantation. Legendary Western Federation of Miners leader William “Big Bill” Haywood goes on trial for murder in the bombing death of former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg, who had brutally suppressed the state’s miners. San Francisco Longshoremen’s strike leads to general work stoppage. UAW President Walter Reuther and his wife May die in a plane crash. 4,000 garment workers strike in El Paso, TX.

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online from Union Communication Services.

http://www.unionist.com/