Today in labor history May 26

[Omaha Steve]

May 26

Men and women weavers in Pawtucket, R.I. stage nation’s first “co-ed” strike - 1824

Western Federation of Miners members strike for eight-hour day, Cripple Creek, Colo. – 1894

The Actors Equity Association founded in New York City - 1913

May 26, 1919 - Minneapolis post office employees demand better wages or the right to strike.

IWW Marine Transport Workers strike, Philadelphia – 1920

One hundred thousand steel workers and miners in mines owned by steel companies strike in seven states. The Memorial Day Massacre, in which ten strikers were killed by police at Republic Steel in Chicago, took place five days later, on May 31 - 1937




May 26, 1937 - Henry Ford’s opposition to collective bargaining was in evidence, when company goons attacked United Auto Workers organizers at the “Battle of the Overpass” outside of the River Rouge plant. Though General Motors and Chrysler signed collective bargaining agreements with the UAW in 1937, Ford held out until 1942. For more information, see http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/exhibits/battle_intro.html