March 31
President Martin Van Buren issues a broadly-applicable executive order granting the 10 hour day to all government employees engaged in manual labor. - 1840
Cowboys earning $40 per month begin what is to become an unsuccessful 2 1/2 month strike for higer wages at five ranches in the Texas Panhandle - 1883
Cesar Chavez born in Yuma, AZ.- 1927
And this:
March 31, 1927 - Cesar Chavez was born. He became not only the leader of the United Farm Workers, but a conscience for the nation. For more on the life of Cesar Chavez, visit the UFW website,
http://www.ufw.org/_page.php?menu=research&inc=history/07.html and the PBS site, The Fight in the Fields,
http://www.pbs.org/itvs/fightfields/timeline.htmlPres. Franklin D. Roosevelt signs legislation establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps, to help alleviate suffering during the Depression. By the time the program ended after the start of World War II it had provided jobs for more than six million men and boys. The average enrollee gained 11 pounds in his first three months - 1933
Wisconsin state troopers fail to get scabs across the picket line to break a 76-day Allis-Chalmers strike in Milwaukee led by UAW Local 248. The plant remained closed until the government negotiated a compromise - 1941
Labor history found here:
http://www.unionist.com/today-in-labor-history & here:
http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_03_31_2010