March 6
The Knights of Labor picket to protest the practices of the Southwestern Railroad system, and the company's chief, high-flying Wall Street financier Jay Gould. Some 9,000 workers walked off the job, halting service on 5,000 miles of t
rack. The workers held out for two months, many suffering from hunger, before they finally returned to work - 1886
Joe Hill’s song “There is Power in a Union” appears in Little Red Song Book, published by the Wobblies - 1913
With the Great Depression underway, hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers demonstrated in some 30 cities and towns; close to 100,000 filled Union Square in New York City and were attacked by mounted police - 1930
Int’l Brotherhood of Paper Makers merges with United Paperworkers of America to become United Papermakers & Paperworkers - 1957
The federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act is enacted - 1970
Predominantly young workers at a Lordstown, Ohio, GM assembly plant stage a wildcat strike, largely in objection to the grueling work pace: at 101.6 cars per hour, their assembly line was believed to be the fastest in the world - 1972
President Jimmy Carter invoked the Taft-Hartley law to halt the 1977-78 national contract strike by the United Mine Workers of America. The order was ignored and Carter did little to enforce it. A settlement was reached in late March - 1978
The U.S. Department of Labor reports that the nation’s unemployment rate soared to 8.1 percent in February, the highest since late 1983, as cost-cutting employers slashed 651,000 jobs amid a deepening recession - 2009
More info & ammo for unionists is available
online from Union Communication Services.
CWA Members at AT&T Southwest Ratify New Contract
Broadband Brigade Members Turn Out to Protect Good, Union Jobs and Reliable Internet Service