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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

01:59

June 28 - Labor Day Becomes a Federal Holiday

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/28

President Grover Cleveland had a growing problem. The nation was in the midst of a deep depression. Unrest amongst working people was mounting. The workers at the Chicago Pullman Palace Car factory had declared a boycott against the company.

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01:59

June 27 - Locked Out at Staley

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/27

On this day in Labor History the year was 1993. That was the day that AE Staley locked out 763 workers at their corn processing plant in Decatur, Illinois. Labor Management relations grew increasingly hostile with foreign-owned Tate & Lile’s decision to bring in new managers. The new management ordered workers to disregarded safety regulations.

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01:59

June 26 - Have You Heard of Jennie Curtis?

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/26

On this day Labor History the year was 1894. That was the day the American Railway union, led by Eugene Debs, voted to support the boycott of Chicago’s Pullman Palace Cars. The nation was gripped by an economic depression. The Pullman workers were on strike, because the company had severely slashed wages. But Pullman had not reduced the workers rent payments in his company town.

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01:59

June 25 - FDR Signs the Fair Labor Standards Act

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/25

On this day in Labor History the year was 1938. That was the day the President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act. The night before he signed that landmark act, he addressed the nation in one his famous “fire side chats.”

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01:59

June 24 - Agnes Nestor

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/24

On this day in Labor History the year was 1880. Chicago labor leader Agnes Nestor was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her father had been a machinist and member of the Knights of Labor. Like many others families, the Nestor family moved to Chicago during the depression that swept the country in the mid-1890s.

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01:59

June 23 - Brown Lung

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/23

Chances are you have heard of “black lung,” the deadly disease that threatens coal miners. But have you ever heard of “brown lung?” On this day in Labor History the year was 1978. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA adopted standards to fight this workplace hazard.

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01:59

June 22 - United

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/22

On this day in Labor History the year was 1977. The eyes of the British Labor Movement were turned to the Grunwick Film Labor Processing Laboratories in northwest London. Members of trade unions participated in a large demonstration at the factory.

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01:59

June 21 - The Day of the Rope

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/21

On this day in Labor History the year was 1877. It became known in Pennsylvania labor history as “The Day of the Rope.” Twenty Irish miners were hung for allegedly belonging to a secret group of labor radicals known as the Molly Maguires.

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01:59

June 20 - The ARU is Founded

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/20

On this day in Labor History the year was 1893. That was the day that Eugene V. Debs founded the American Railway Union. The goal of the union was to organize railroad workers from different job classifications. Previous railroad unions have been based on job type.

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01:59

June 19 - The Women’s Day Massacre

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/19

On this day in Labor History the year was 1937. That was the day that would go down in labor history as the “Woman’s Day Massacre.” The Steel Workers Organizing Committee were attempting to bring union recognition to the Steel Industry.

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01:59

June 18 - Executive Order 8802

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/18

On this day in Labor History the year was 1941. That was the day that an historic meeting took place at the White House. Black labor leader A. Philip Randolph, along with the head of the NAACP sat down to talk with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

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01:59

June 17 - March of the Mill Children

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/17

On this day in Labor History the year was 1903. Mary Harris better known as “Mother” Jones held a rally in Philadelphia. The famous Irish-American labor leader had come to Pennsylvania to support a strike of textile workers. As many as one-hundred thousand workers were out on strike.

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01:59

June 16 - Bankrupt

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/16

On this day in Labor History Pinkerton Detectives arrived at job sites across the US to escort workers off the premises. No--this was not at a railroad or coal mine in labor’s distant past. It was at the offices of what was once the largest computer seller in the United States. And the year was 2000.

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01:59

June 15 - Justice for Janitors

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/16

On this day in Labor History the year was 1990. About 400 janitors were protesting at Century City, a large office complex in Los Angeles. It was part of SEIU’s Justice for Janitors campaign in LA. The janitors had gone out on strike against International Service Systems.

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01:59

June 14 - The Fight for Free Speech

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/14

On this day in Labor History the year was 1924. Three-hundred members of the International Workers of the World, or Wobblies, gathered at their union hall in San Pedro California. They were holding a benefit for two of their members who had been killed in a railway accident. For the past year, the KKK had targeted the San Pedro IWW members.

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01:59

June 9 - Gay? You’re Fired

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/13

On this day in Labor History the year was 1991. That was the day that a San Francisco man, Jeffrey Collins, received $5.3 million for wrongful termination from Shell Oil. The judge ruled the company had fired Jeffrey because they found out he was gay.

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01:59

June 12 - Team Owners Attack Free Agency

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/12

In 1981 the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the first two games of the World Series to their rivals, the New York Yankees. The Dodgers would come roaring back, sweeping the next four games. And so closed the curtain on one of the strangest seasons in baseball history.

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01:59

June 11 - The Banana Massacre

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/11

On this day in Labor History the year was 1913. Police in New Orleans shot at maritime workers striking against the United Fruit Company. Two workers were wounded. A third laid dead in the street. At the time of the strike the port in New Orleans was one of the busiest U.S. ports for importing bananas.

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01:59

June 10 - The Equal Pay Act of 1963

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/10

On this day in Labor History the year was 1963. That was the day President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act. The goal of the act was to end wage discrimination against women.

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01:59

June 9 - Birth of a Fighter

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2025/06/09

On this day in Labor History the year was 1865. Labor leader Helen Marot was born to a wealthy Quaker family in Philadelphia. Helen grew up around the written word, as her father was a book binder and seller

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