Labor history Oct 2, 500,000 demanding pensions and better wages, Starbucks union busting, FDR,more

[Omaha Steve]

October 2

American Federation of Labor officially endorses campaign for a six hour day, five day workweek - 1934


(From the Folks Who Brought You The Weekend is a sweeping, highly readable history of U.S. labor that will be welcomed by anyone interested in learning more about the struggle of American working people to better their lives through collective action. From indentured servants in the seventeenth-century Chesapeake to high-tech workers in contemporary Silicon Valley, this excellent narrative surveys the historic efforts and sacrifices that working people made to win the rights we take for granted today, from minimum wage and overtime protections to health and safety guarantees to even the weekend itself. In the UCS bookstore now.)


October 2, 1935 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt, addressing a crowd in San Diego, asserted the right of all workers to join unions. He said, "It is now beyond partisan controversy that it is a fundamental individual right of a worker to associate himself with other workers and to bargain collectively with his employer."

Joining with 400,000 coal miners already on strike, 500,000 CIO steel workers close down the nation’s foundries, steel and iron mills, demanding pensions and better wages and working conditions - 1949

Starbucks Workers Union baristas at an outlet in East Grand Rapids, Mich., organized by the Wobblies, win their grievances after the National Labor Relations Board cites the company for labor law violations, including threats against union activists - 2007

Union members, progressives and others rally in Washington DC under the Banner of One Nation Working Together, demand “good jobs, equal justice, and quality education for all.” Crowd estimates range from tens of thousands to 200,000 - 2010

Labor history found here: http://www.unionist.com/big-labor/today-in-labor-history & here: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_10_02_2011

[WhiteTara]

1. Thanks Steve!

Our campaign is trying to align itself to the unions because they are so needed. We have all the chicken processing workers and Arkansas is right to work. So, I'm educating myself and working to get it into the narrative of why we need them. We need to have some union organizers who wanted to come to our beautiful little state and help the people here. Many are so depressed from their working conditions, they are total methers. Or so I have been told.

Anyway, here's to a stronger America through strong Unions.


What union is there for the ordinary person; store workers, etc?

edited for clarity

[Omaha Steve]

2. Store clerks use the UFCW

http://www.ufcw.org/

[WhiteTara]

3. Thanks. n/t