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Today in labor history for the week of October 10, 2011

October 10

1933 - Six days into a cotton field strike by 18,000 Mexican and Mexican- American workers in Pixley, Calif., four strikers are killed and six wounded; eight growers were indicted and charged with murder

October 11

1873 - The Miners’ National Association is formed in Youngstown, Ohio, with the goal of uniting all miners, regardless of skill or ethnic background

1948 - Nearly 1,500 plantation workers strike Olaa Sugar, on Hawaii’s Big Island

October 12

1898 - Company guards kill at least eight miners who are attempting to stop scabs, Virden, Ill. Six guards also were killed, and 30 persons wounded -

1902 - 14 miners killed, 22 wounded by scabherders at Pana, Ill.

1933 - 2,000 workers demanding union recognition close down dress manufacturing, Los Angeles -

1976 - More than 1 million Canadian workers demonstrate against wage controls

October 13

1934 - American Federation of Labor votes to boycott all German-made products as a protest against Nazi antagonism to organized labor within Germany -

1985 - More than 1,100 office workers strike Columbia University in New York City. The mostly female and minority workers win union recognition and pay increases

1998 -National Basketball Association cancels regular season games for the first time in its 51-year history, during a player lockout. Player salaries and pay caps were primary issue. The lockout lasted 204 days

2000 - Hundreds of San Jose Mercury News newspaper carriers end 4-day walkout with victory
[Kids on Strike! tells the story of children who stood up for their rights against powerful company owners. Nearly two million children were in the U.S. workforce by the early 1900s. Their tiny fingers, strong eyesight, and boundless energy made them perfect employees. But after years and years of working long hours every day under inhumane conditions, they began to organize and make demands in order to protect themselves. More than 100 photos, including the work of Lewis Hine. In the UCS bookstore now.]

October 14

1883 - International Working People's Association founded in Pittsburgh, Penn. -

1938 - The Seafarers International Union (SIU) is founded as an AFL alternative to what was then the CIO’s National Maritime Union. SIU is an umbrella organization of 12 autonomous unions of mariners, fishermen and boatmen working on U.S.-flagged vessels

October 15

1914 - Pres. Woodrow Wilson signs the Clayton Antitrust Act – often referred to as "Labor’s Magna Carta" – establishing that unions are not "conspiracies" under the law. It for the first time freed unions to strike, picket and boycott employers. In the years that followed, however, numerous state measures and negative court interpretations weakened the law
[The Labor Law Source Book is a handy collection that puts the full texts of all the major U.S. labor laws into one book. Includes the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act, Family and Medical Leave Act and 15 more.In the UCS bookstore now.]

October 16

1793 - Queen Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, is beheaded during the French Revolution. When alerted that the peasants were suffering due to widespread bread shortages, lore has it that she replied, “Let them eat cake.” In fact she never said that, but workers were, justifiably, ready to believe anything bad about their cold-hearted Royalty

1859 - Abolitionist John Brown leads 18 men, including five free blacks, in an attack on the Harper's Ferry ammunition depot, the beginning of guerilla warfare against slavery