"We must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as 'right to work.' It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights. Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone…Wherever these laws have been passed, wages are lower, job opportunities are fewer and there are no civil rights." -Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Wednesday, Jan 4:
Angered by increasing farm foreclosures, members of Iowa's Farmers Holiday Association threaten to lynch banking representatives and law officials who institute foreclosure proceedings for the duration of the Great Depression. -1933
8,000 New York City social workers strike, and demand better conditions for welfare recipients. -1965
Thursday, Jan 5:
Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins. 10 of the 11 deaths on the job came when the safety netting beneath the site, the first ever use of such equipment, failed under the stress of a scaffold that had fallen. 19 other workers were saved by the net over the course of construction. They became members of the (informal) “Halfway to Hell Club”. -1933
So called "Fiscal conservative" and "Free-marketeer" President Reagan produces the nation's first trillion-dollar budget, projecting 1988 outlays of $1,024.3 billion, revenues of $916.6 billion, and a deficit of $107.8 billion. By the end of his presidency Reagan increased the national debt 190% to over $2.9 trillion. Under Reaganomics the rich got richer, the poor got poorer and the majority of the tax burden was shifted down onto the working class. -1987
Friday, Jan 6:
A strike was called at the Youngstown Sheet & Tube plant by its 8,000 workers. On January 7, strikers were joined by their wives and other family members on the picket line. Company guards attacked the crowd with tear gas and live fire murdering 3 unarmed peaceful strikers and wounding 25 others. -1916
West Virginia miners launched a wildcat strike to protest the murder of their union reform leader Joseph “Jock” Yablonski. -1970
Saturday, Jan 7:
An explosion at Osage Coal and Mining Company’s Mine Number 11 near Krebs, Okla. kills 100, injures 150 when an untrained worker accidentally sets off a stash of explosives. -1892
Tom Mooney, IWW labor activist, who was framed by a company paid agent and falsely convicted of murder in the San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing in July 1916, was freed after 22 ½ years in jail, granted an unconditional pardon by Governor Culbert Olson. -1939
Sunday, Jan 8:
The AFL Iron and Steel Organizing Committee ends the “Great Steel Strike”. 400,000 steelworkers had been striking for more than 3 months, demanding union recognition. The greedy Capitalists falsely accused the exploited workers of being “Communists” and “un-American” for wanting fair wages and less deadly working conditions. -1920
In San Jose, California, teachers joined with striking students to oppose the Vietnam War. -1969
Monday, Jan 9:
A Commission appointed by President Woodrow Wilson finds that "industry’s failure to deal with unions" is the prime reason for labor strife in war industries. -1918
The administration of George W. Bush declares federal airport security screeners will not be allowed to unionize so as not to "complicate" the war on terrorism. The decision was challenged and eventually overturned after Bush left office. - 2003
Tuesday, Jan 10:
In what is described as the worst industrial disaster in state history, the Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Mass., collapses, trapping 900 workers, mostly Irish women. More than 100 die, scores more injured in the collapse and ensuing fire. Too much heavy machinery had been crammed into the building. (Before our pesky Federal regulations could get in the way of company profits). -1860
Former AFL-CIO President George Meany dies at age 85. The one-time plumber led the labor federation from the time of the AFL and CIO merger in 1955 until shortly before his death. -1980
This Week in Labor History is compiled by Kevin D. Curtis
