Today in Labor History Mar 25 Triangle fire, explosion at a coal mine kills 111, affirmative action

[Omaha Steve]

March 25

Toronto printers strike for the 9-hour day in what is believed to be Canada’s first major strike - 1872


First “Poor People’s March” on Washington, in which jobless workers demanded creation of a public works program. Led by populist Jacob Coxey, the 500 to 1,000 unemployed protesters became known as “Coxey’s Army” - 1894

March 26, 1910 - The U.S Congress amended the Immigration Act of 1907 to bar entry by “paupers, anarchists, criminals and the diseased.” Throughout the 20th century, immigration policy has been a source of controversy and a means for politicians to manipulate public opinion.

For more information
Visit the Labor Education Service's list of resources on labor and immigration, http://www.laboreducation.org/les/immigration_resources.php

146 workers are killed in a fire at New York’s Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, a disaster that would launch a national movement for safer working conditions - 1911

An explosion at a coal mine in Centralia, Ill. kills 111 miners. Mineworkers President John L. Lewis calls a six day work stoppage by the nation’s 400,000 soft coal miners to demand safer working conditions - 1947

The U.S. Supreme Court rules employers may sometimes favor women and members of minority groups over men and whites in hiring and promoting in order to achieve better balance in the work force - 1987

Labor history found here: http://www.unionist.com/today-in-labor-history & here: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_03_26_2011

[laconicsax]

1. I keep seeing it called the "Triangle Fire." When did it lose the shirtwaist?

I kept thinking, "What the hell is this Triangle Fire? Did this just happen?" then saw that it was the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.