Today in Labor History Feb 2 Secretary fired for refusing to make coffee, FDR, newsboys organized

[Omaha Steve]

February 2


Feb. 2, 1917
Three hundred newsboys organized to protest a cut in pay by the Minneapolis Tribune.

Much of the newsboys' colorful history is chronicled on the pages of the Minneapolis Labor Review. To view actual pages of the newspaper, visit the Labor Review archive. A link can be found on the homepage of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, www.minneapolisunions.org

Sixteen thousand silk workers in Paterson, NJ and 32,000 in Lawrence, Mass. strike for shorter work week with no cut in pay - 1919

Feb. 2, 1935
In a message to Congress, President Franklin Roosevelt declared: "The rights of employees freely to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining should be fully protected."

Legal secretary Iris Rivera fired for refusing to make coffee; secretaries across Chicago protest - 1977

The 170-day lockout (although management called it a strike) of 22,000 steelworkers by USX Corp. ends with a pay cut but greater job security. It was the longest work stoppage in the history of the U.S. steel industry - 1987

Labor history found here: http://www.unionist.com/today-in-labor-history & here: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_02_02_2011