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PODCAST

Labor History in 2:00

The Rick Smith Show

A daily, pocket-sized history of America"s working people, brought to you by The Rick Smith Show team.

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All Episodes

1:59

December 25 - And So This is Christmas?

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/25

On this day in labor history the year was 2001. That was the year that the spirit of Christmas must have seemed very far away from some of the workers who harvested Christmas Trees in the United States. Many of these workers come from Mexico and Central American countries. They come for the harvest as guest workers.

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1:59

December 24 - A Very Tragic Christmas

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/24

On this day in labor history the year was 1913. That tragic Christmas Eve, came to be known as the Italian Hall Disaster in Calumet, Michigan. A Christmas party was being held for children of striking copper miners.

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1:59

December 23 - The Right to Boycott

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/23

On this day in labor history the year was 1908. That was the day that three leaders of the American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers, John Mitchell, and Frank Morrison, were sentenced to jail terms for calling for a Boycott against Bucks Stove & Range.

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1:59

December 22 - The Big Apple Comes to a Standstill

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/22

On this day in labor history the year was 2005. At 2:35 that afternoon the Transport Workers Union in New York City called an end to their three-day strike. The union represented 34,000 workers who kept the cities buses and subways running.

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1:59

December 21 - The Santa Maria School Massacre

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/21

On this day in labor history the year was 1907. At 3:45 that afternoon the Chilean military opened machine gun fire on a school occupied by striking workers. It is estimated that between one and three thousand people died that day in what came to be known as the Santa Maria School Massacre.

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1:59

December 20 - The Father of American Manufacturing

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/20

On this day in labor history the year was 1790. That was the day that work for many living in the new country of the United States began to change in a significant way. Samuel Slater operated the first cotton spindle machine to spin yarn in the U.S in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The 48-spindle machine ran on the water power of Pawtucket Falls.

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1:59

December 19 - Greyhound Strike Ends in Bitter Defeat

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/19

On this day in labor history the year was 1983. That was the day that a bitter national strike of Greyhound Workers came to a close. Nearly 13,000 bus drivers, mechanics and clerks had gone on strike. They were members of the Amalgamated Transit Union.

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1:59

December 18 - The Struggling Heartbeat of America

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/18

On this day in labor history the year was 1991. That was the day that thousands of workers at in U.S. General motor factories got some very bad news. The company’s CEO Robert Stampel announced that GM would eliminate 74,000 jobs and close 21 plants. The company was struggling.

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1:59

December 17 - The Fighting Deborah Samson

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/17

On this day in labor history the year was 1760. That was the day Deborah Samson was born in Plympton, Massachusetts. She was the first known woman to impersonate a man in order to fight in the Revolutionary War. Her family was poor. As a girl, young Deborah, became an indentured servant.

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1:59

December 16 - The Willmar 8

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/16

On this day in labor history the year was 1977. That was the day that eight women in Willmar, Minnesota stood up for their rights in the work place. The women worked at Willmar Citizens National Bank. These women were paid considerably less than the male employees.

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1:59

December 15 - The Death of a Courageous Leader

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/15

On this day in labor history the year was 2005. That was the day the labor movement lost a man who was willing to go to jail to fight for the rights of working people. Clinton Jenks was born in Colorado Springs in 1918. He learned of labor consciousness from his father, a postal worker.

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1:59

December 14 - Austerity No More! Workers Strike Back!

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/14

On this day in labor history the year was 1990. That was the day that 20,000 workers in the city of Fez in the North African country of Morocco went out on strike. Austerity measures had hit the country’s working people hard during the 1980's. A drought had made the situation even worse.

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1:59

December 13 - Remembering Samuel Gompers

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/13

On this day in labor history the year was 1924. That was the day that long-time leader of the American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers, died. Gompers was born to a Jewish family in England. He was a cigar-maker by trade.

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1:59

December 12 - The Lights Return

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/12

On this day in labor history the year was 1964. That was the day that half of the labor force of France ended a strike that had ground the country to a halt. The strike started on December 10. It is estimated that nine million people participated in the work action.

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1:59

December 11 - The Colored Farmers’ Alliance and...

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/11

On this day in labor history the year was 1886. That was the day that black farmers formed the Colored Farmers’ Alliance and Cooperative Union in Houston County, Texas. The Southern Farmers Alliance would not allow black members

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1:59

December 10 - The First Sit-Down Strike

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/10

On this day in Labor History the year was 1906. That was the day the workers at a General Electric plant in Schenectady, New York organized a sit-down strike. It is considered to be perhaps the first time the sit-down tactic was used in the United States.

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1:59

December 9 - The Founding of the Noble and Holy Order...

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/09

On this day in Labor History the year was 1869. That was the day a new union, named the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor was founded. It started in Philadelphia as a secret society of tailors. But soon the Knights expanded to workers in other trades.

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1:59

December 8 - NAFTA is Signed

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/08

On this day in Labor History the year was 1993. That was the day that President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement into law. The stated aim of NAFTA was to increase trade between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

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1:59

December 7 - The Bonus Army

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/07

On this day in Labor History the year was 1931. That was the day that protesters staged a hunger march on Washington, D.C. 1,600 protesters took part in the march.

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1:59

December 6 - Driving Towards Change

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/12/06

On this day in Labor History the year was 1897. London became the world’s first city to license motorized taxicabs. More than a century later, cab service has seen many changes. Today taxi drivers are an important sector of workers trying to win union recognition.

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