Today in Labor History May 1 is International Workers Day several great items today

May 1


Mary Harris “Mother” Jones born in County Cork, Ireland - 1830

And this: May 1, 1830 - Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was born. The renowned labor organizer, who lived to be 100, said, "I live in the United States, but I do not know exactly where. My address is wherever there is a fight against oppression. My address is like my shoes; it travels with me. I abide where there is a fight against wrong." For more about Mother Jones, see http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=89 and http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/majones.htm

Cigar makers in Cincinnati warn there could be a strike in the Fall if factory owners continue to insist that they pay 30 cents per month for gas consumed at work during mornings and evenings - 1883

Eight-hour day demonstration in Chicago, and other cities, begins tradition of May Day as international labor holiday – 1886

And this:
May 1 is International Workers Day. May Day started in the United States. On the first May Day, May 1, 1886, the labor movement called for an eight-hour workday. Two days later, the Haymarket Massacre occurred in Chicago during a strike support rally. Haymarket has been indelibly linked to May Day ever since.

Read historian Dave Roediger's account of the origins of May Day, http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_2985

Find reading lists, links to May Day websites and other resources at the Holt Labor Library website, http://www.holtlaborlibrary.org/mayday.html

Learn more about the Industrial Workers of the World, a union closely linked to May Day, at www.iww.org

Nineteen machinists working for the East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railroad gather in a locomotive pit to decide what to do about a wage cut. They vote to form a union, which later became the International Association of Machinists - 1888

May 1, 1894- The cross-country march by Coxey’s Army, thousands of unemployed workers, culminated in a march down Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C.

The Cooks’ and Waiters’ Union strikes in San Francisco, demanding one day of rest per week, a ten-hour work day and a union shop for all restaurants in the city - 1901

Mother Jones’ 100th birthday celebrated at the Burgess Farm in Adelphi, Md. She died six months later - 1930

New York City’s Empire State Building officially opens. Construction involved 3,400 workers, mostly immigrants from Europe, and hundreds of Mohawk iron workers. Five workers died during construction - 1931

May 1, 1933 - The first issue of the Catholic Worker was published.

Congress enacts amendments to the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, extending protections to the employees of state and local governments – protections which didn’t take effect until 1985 because of court challenges and regulation-writing problems - 1974

The Federal minimum wage rises to $2.00 per hour - 1974

International Molders & Allied Workers Union merges with Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics & Allied Workers International Union - 1988

Woodworkers of America International merges with International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers - 1994

International Leather Goods, Plastics & Novelty Workers Union merges with Service Employees International Union - 1996

Rallies in cities across the U.S. for what organizers call “A Day Without Immigrants.” An estimated 100,000 immigrants and sympathizers gathered in San Jose, Calif., 200,000 in New York, 400,000 each in Chicago and Los Angeles. In all, there were demonstrations in at least 50 cities - 2006

And this: May 1, 2006 - Millions of immigrants, participating in a national day of mobilization, stayed home from work to demonstrate their economic power and demand comprehensive reform of U.S. immigration laws.

Labor history found here: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_05_01_2010 & here: http://www.unionist.com/today-in-labor-history