May 18
In what may have been baseball’s first labor strike, the Detroit Tigers
refuse to play after team leader Ty Cobb is suspended: he went into the
stands and beat a fan who had been heckling him. Cobb was reinstated and the
Tigers went back to work after the team manager’s failed attempt to replace
the players with a local college team: their pitcher gave up 24 runs - 1912
Amalgamated Meat Cutters union organizers launch a campaign in the nation’s
packinghouses, an effort that was to bring representation to 100,000 workers
over the following two years - 1917
Big Bill Haywood, a founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of
the World (the Wobblies), dies in exile in the Soviet Union - 1928
Atlanta transit workers, objecting to a new city requirement that they be
fingerprinted as part of the employment process, go on strike. They relented
and returned to work six months later - 1950
Insurance Agents International Union and Insurance Workers of America merge
to become Insurance Workers International Union (later to merge into the
UFCW) - 1959
More info & ammo for unionists is available
online from Union Communication Services.
New York Times Tech Guild Goes Out on ULP Strike
National Mobilization Committee Hosts Successful Training