SELECTED HISTORICAL DATES
IN THE U.S. TRADE UNION MOVEMENT

 

Labor historian Philip Foner sets the birth of the American labor movement at 1827. In 1827, the Mechanics Union of Trade Association of Philadelphia was created. The first textile strike occurred in 1828. By 1836, there were 13 similar bodies in other cities. By 1850, the following national unions were founded: Upholsterers, Hat Finishers, Plumbers, Building Trades, Railroad Engineers, Stone Cutters, Lithographers, Cigar Makers, Silver Platers, Mule Skinners, Machinists, Blacksmiths, Painters and Cordwiners. By 1865, there were 300 unions representing more than 200,000 workers in 61 trades.


Until 1850, the bulk of the general manufacturing done in the U.S. was carried out in small shops and households by the labor of individual families as individual proprietors . By the close of the Civil War big industries were merging in the U.S. By 1900, numerous large industries such as auto, steel, rubber, meat packing, and the railroads were making America an industrial powerhouse.


Between 1870 and 1934, unions in America were also trying to grow as well, but the captains of industry and the wealthy waged a bitter war against workers who tried to organize into a union. The creation of the U.S. trade union movement was the most violent in the world as a result of the wars waged against workers trying to organize into unions during this time.

 

SELECTED DATES IN LABOR HISTORY

  • 1827: The recognized birth of the American Trade Union movement begins with the formation of the Mechanics Union in Philadelphia.
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  • 1828: The first textile strike took place.
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  • 1835: The first general strike in America took place.
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  • 1836: Thirteen new unions were created in different U.S. cities.
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  • 1837: A national economic crisis nearly wiped out organized labor.
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  • 1850: Eight national unions were formed including: Upholsterers, Plumbers, Railroad Engineers, Blacksmiths, Cordwiners, Hat Finishers, Building Trades and Painters.
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  • 1863-1865: (Civil War Years) - 300 unions were founded representing 61 trades. By the end of 1865, 200,000 workers belonged to labor unions.
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  • 1869: Knights of Labor founded.
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  • 1874: Mine workers in Pennsylvania struck against wage cuts.
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  • 1877: National railroad strike. Workers struck against wage cuts, first recorded use of federal troops in a labor dispute.
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  • 1881: The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded by the Carpenters, Painters, Iron Molders, Glass Workers, Cigarmakers and Iron Workers' Union.
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  • 1882: The AFL was the largest national labor organization with 550,000 members.
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  • 1886: More than 350,00 American workers struck for an 8 hour day Chicago Haymarket  riot.
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  • 1888: The International Association of Machinists was founded; Retail Clerks Union was chartered by the AFL and the first labor law was enacted which applied to railroads.
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  • 1890: The United Mine Workers Union was founded.
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  • 1892: Workers at Carnegie Steel Company protested wage cuts and are locked out Homestead strike against Carnegie Steel where several workers lost their lives in the dispute.
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  • 1894: Eugene V. Debs called a strike against Pullman Company; national Railroad Workers strike followed; bituminous mine workers in Ohio struck in protest of wage cuts.
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  • 1896: The Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher Workmen Union was founded.
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  • 1900: The International Ladies Garment Workers Union founded.
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  • 1901: The United Textile Workers of America was founded.
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  • 1904: More than 50,000 packinghouse workers walk off the job nationwide.
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  • 1905: The Industrial Workers of the World was founded; Teamsters in Chicago strike 20 strikers killed and 400 injured.
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  • 1913: The United States Department of Labor was established; the Clayton Act was passed by Congress legalizing and protecting picketing and other certain union activity.
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  • 1914: Ludlow Massacre where United Mine Workers strikers were killed in a labor dispute in Colorado.
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  • 1917: Industrial Workers of the World led a strike in the copper mines in Arizona.
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  • 1926: Railroad Labor Act was passed by Congress giving workers the right to pursue collective bargaining with railroad employers.
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  • 1931: Norris-LaGuardia Act passed by Congress limited federal injunctions against strikes and outlawed "yellow dog" contracts.
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  • 1935: National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) passed by Congress giving workers the right to form or join unions.
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  • 1935: John L. Lewis led the Mine Workers out of the AFL and founded the Congress of  Industrial Organizations (CIO).
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  • 1936: The United Rubber Workers (CIO) conducted a sit-down strike at Goodyear Tire &  Rubber Co.
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  • 1937: The United Auto Workers (CIO) won national recognition at General Motors, Flint, Michigan, plant after a three-month strike.
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  • 1937: Ten people were killed and 80 injured in a Memorial Day clash between steel workers and police at Republic Steel Co. in South Chicago.
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  • 1938: United States Steel recognized Steel Workers Organizing Committee (CIO) as the workers union.
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  • 1938: The Fair Labor Standards Act was passed by Congress providing for a minimum wage and time-and-a-half pay for work over 40 hours a week.
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  • 1941: Pearl Harbor bombed, start of World War II for the U.S.; the AFL and the CIO pledged to President Franklin Roosevelt not to engage in any strike for the duration of  the war.
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  • 1941: United Auto Workers won recognition at Ford Motor Company.
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  • 1941: The United Packinghouse Workers of America (CIO) was founded.
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  • 1945: World War II ended; the CIO launched the greatest wage offensive in U.S. history with more than five million workers engaged in strikes across America.
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  • 1935-1945: Unions organized over 11 million American workers.
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  • 1948: The United Packinghouse Workers Union initiated a nationwide strike against the nation's major meatpacking companies.
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  • 1948: The Taft-Hartley Act was passed by Congress outlawing secondary boycotts by unions, the sit-down strike and new injunctive relief for the employers was granted.
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  • 1950s: Congressional Committees conduct witch hunt hearings to identify alleged Communists. In major part directed at labor unions and labor leaders.
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  • 1955: The CIO merged with the AFL to create the AFL-CIO.
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  • 1959: The Labor-Management Relations Act (Landrum-Griffin) was passed by Congress.
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  • 1969: IBP workers at Dakota City, Nebraska struck the nation's largest cattle slaughterer for 9 months to gain a first-time contract. Workers were killed and injured in the strike.
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  • 1972: IBP workers struck Dakota City plant for six months.
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  • 1977: IBP workers struck Dakota City plant for 15 months.
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  • 1979: Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Retail Clerk International Unions merged to create UFCW.
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  • 1980: UFCW International Union leadership granted widespread mid-term contract  concessions to some of the nation's largest meat packers.
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  • 1982: President Ronald Reagan fired 20,000 striking air traffic controllers and destroys the PATCO Union.
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  • 1982-1989: Packinghouse Division which is part of UFCW but gets little support from the International Union, conducted more strikes in meat packing than any single union in the U.S. trade union movement.
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  • 1982: John Morrell workers struck Morrell meat packing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
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  • 1985: John Morrell workers struck Sioux Falls, South Dakota plant. Hormel workers in Austin, Minnesota struck Hormel plant.
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  • 1987: John Morrell workers struck at Sioux City, Iowa, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota plants.
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  • 1989: Research-Education-Advocacy-People (REAP) reform movement was founded by UFCW rank-and-filers and local union officers.
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  • 1994: Report commissioned by the AFL-CIO leadership revealed that workers believe in unions but distrust much of the leadership.
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  • 1995: At the AFL-CIO Convention, reform candidates unseated old guard AFL-CIO President.

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