Thanks to an army of thousands of Chinese and Irish immigrants, who laid 2,000 miles of track, the nation?s first transcontinental railway line was finished by the joining of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines at Promontory Point, Utah - 1869
U.S. & Canadian workers form Western Labor Union. It favors industrial organization and independent labor party politics - 1898
Japanese workers strike at Oahu, Hawaii?s Aiea Plantation, demanding the same pay as Portuguese and Puerto Rican workers. Ultimately 7,000 workers and their families remained out until August, when the strike was broken - 1909
The constitution of the Brotherhood of the Footboard was ratified by engineers in Detroit, Mich. Later became the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers - 1863
The Knights of St. Crispin union is formed at a secret meeting in Milwaukee. It grew to 50,000 members before being crushed by employers later that year - 1867