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Edited on Mon Oct-20-08 06:33 AM by Omaha Steve
October 20
October 20, 1912 - Thomas Van Lear, a leader of the Machinists Union and candidate for mayor of Minneapolis on the “Public Ownership” ticket, was the guest speaker at a meeting of the Beer Bottlers Union. Elected mayor in 1916, Van Lear advocated public ownership of gas, electricity and coal supplies and championed more funding for the public schools.
Eugene Debs, U.S. labor leader and socialist, dies in Elmhurst, Ill. Among his radical ideas: an eight-hour workday, pensions, workman’s compensation, sick leave and social security. He ran for president from a jail cell in 1920 and got a million votes - 1926
Death of Merle Travis, songwriter and performer who wrote “Sixteen Tons” & “Dark as a Dungeon” - 1983
October 20, 1980 - Candidate Ronald Reagan wrote a letter to PATCO President Robert Poli, promising that if the union endorsed him, “I will take whatever steps are necessary to provide our air traffic controllers with the most modern equipment available and to adjust staff levels and work days so that they are commensurate with achieving a maximum degree of public safety.” The union endorsed Reagan and, nine months after his election, President Reagan fired the air traffic controllers for engaging in an illegal walkout over staffing levels and working conditions.
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