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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

September 23 - The Nixon Plan in Philadelphia

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/23

On this day in Labor History the year was 1969. President Richard Milhous Nixon issued the Philadelphia Plan. The goal of the plan was to require building trades unions to admit black members into their ranks. Nixon believed this would show him as a civil rights supporter without having to give in to the more radical demands of the civil rights movement.

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01:59

September 22 - A Pepperoni Pizza and a Union

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/23

On this day in Labor History the year was 2006. Eleven Domino’s pizza delivery drivers in Pensacola, Florida formed what is thought to be the first ever union of pizza delivery drivers. The American Union of Pizza Delivery Drivers won recognition from the National Labor Relations Board as the bargaining agent for drivers at the Pensacola franchise.

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01:59

September 21 - The March of Mother Jones

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/21

On this day in Labor History the year was 1912. That was the day that labor activist, Mother Jones, led a march of miners’ children through the streets of Charleston, West Virginia. Her aim was to illustrate the effects of poverty.

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01:59

September 20 - Upton Sinclair is Born

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/20

On this day in Labor History the year was 1878. That was the day that socialist author Upton Sinclair was born in Baltimore, Maryland. A prolific writer, Sinclair wrote nearly 100 books and other publications. Upton Sinclair’s father and father’s relatives had been wealthy Southerners.

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01:59

September 19 - The Solidarity March

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/19

On this day in Labor History the year was 1981. More than 400,000 union members marched in labor’s first Solidarity Day demonstration in Washington, D.C. The demonstration was called by the AFL-CIO to protest the Reagan administration’s policies and the firing of striking air traffic controllers.

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01:59

September 18 - The Horse Race

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/18

On this day in Labor History the year was 1830. That was the day that “Tom Thumb,” the first locomotive built in the U.S. raced a horse on a nine-mile course in Maryland.

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01:59

September 17 - The Southern Differential

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/17

On this day in labor history, the year was 1947. That was the day workers at the International Harvester plant in Louisville, Kentucky had had enough. They had just rejected a pay scale lower than that of Harvester workers elsewhere. In her recent article for Leo Weekly, historian Toni Gilpin refers to the lower pay as the “Southern Differential.” Harvester workers walked off the job in a 40-day strike. Black and white Louisville workers were united in a rare form of solidarity. International

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01:59

September 16 - Oil Workers Demand 52 for 40

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/16

On this day in labor history, the year was 1945. That was the day oil workers walked off the job. The strike soon spread to 20 states and involved more than 43,000 workers at 22 oil companies. After years of wartime wage freezes, the union’s demand was 52 for 40—fifty-two hours pay for 40 hours work. Workers demanded a 30% pay increase, shift differentials and an eventual return to the 36-hour workweek. The strike began in Michigan at the Socony-Vacuum refinery in Trenton. From there it spread

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01:59

September 15 - GM Rocked by Strike Wave of 350,000

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/15

On this day in labor history, the year was 1970. That was the day 350,000 GM workers kicked off a 67-day strike. It was the largest auto strike since the end of World War II. According to historian Jefferson Cowie, it was likely the costliest. In his book, Stayin’ Alive, Cowie notes that the strike cost GM a billion dollars in profits and nearly bankrupted the union. But he adds it “lacked the proletarian drama that fired journalists’ hearts.” For Cowie, it was an example of

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01:59

September 14 - The Springfield General Strike

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/15

On this day in labor history, the year was 1917. That was the day Illinois Governor Frank Lowden hoped to meet with striking streetcar men in an effort to end their strike. Transit workers in Springfield, the state’s capitol, had been off the job since July 25th. But the strike had gained so much support that Springfield had now erupted into a full blown general strike. According to the Sangamon County Historical Society, thousands of “union members shut down mines, railroads, bakeries,

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01:59

September 13 - Shoot to Kill Orders in Rhode Island

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/13

On this day in labor history, the year was 1934. That was the day Rhode Island Governor Theodore Green demanded that federal troops be sent to crush a textile strike in his state. The General Textile Strike, then in its second week, stretched across the Piedmont from New England to Georgia. Green declared, “We are face to face, not with a textile strike but with a communist uprising.” His demands came after days of pitched battles between thousands of strikers and the Rhode Island

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01:59

September 12 - The United Rubber Workers is Founded

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/12

On this day in labor history, the year was 1935. That was the day the United Rubber Workers was founded in Akron, Ohio. Akron was the rubber capital of the world. All the major companies were there—Goodyear, Firestone, Goodrich and General Tire. In Akron alone, there were more than 40,000 rubber workers and thousands more throughout the country. After 30 years of struggling to build the union, hopes of organizing the industry were finally made real. The founding of the international came after

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01:59

September 11 - The World Trade Center Health Program

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/11

On this day in labor history, the year was 2001. We pause to remember those who died in the 9/11 attacks. Of those killed, nearly a quarter were union people. Hundreds of firefighters were lost. Dozens of building trades people, including carpenters and electricians were also killed. And many other unions lost members as well, including the AFT, SEIU, UNITE-HERE, CWA, and AFSCME. Those lost that day will remains firmly forever in our memories. What is less well known is the number of those first

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01:59

September 10 - Chicago Teachers Say, Enough!

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/10

Labor History in 2:00https://feed.podbean.com/laborhistoryin2/feed.xml A daily, pocket-sized history of America's working people, brought to you by The Rick Smith Show team. September 10 - Chicago Teachers Say, Enough! Friday Sep 10, 2021 On this day in labor history, the year was 2012. That was the day the Chicago Teachers Union walked off the job for the first time in 25 years. The historic weeklong strike resonated nationwide among trade unionists

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01:59

September 9 - Deadly Anti-Union Violence at Gastonia

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/09

On this day in labor history, the year was 1929. That was the day a mistrial was declared in the case of sixteen textile mill unionists in North Carolina. The mistrial sparked five days of anti-union vigilante violence. Textile workers at Gastonia’s Loray Mill had been on strike since April 1. They demanded higher wages and shorter work hours, union recognition and an end to the hated stretch out system. Soon, textile workers at Bessemer City’s American Mill walked off the job in solidarity and

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01:59

September 8 - The Delano Grape Strike Begins

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/09

On this day in labor history, the year was 1965. That was the day the Delano Grape Strike began in California. The strike came a year after activists had forced Congress to end the Bracero contract labor program. The Filipino Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, led by Larry Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz and others called the strike against the Delano Growers and the Coachella Valley Grape Growers. It had been a record harvest. Farmworkers demanded higher wages, humane working conditions and

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01:59

September 7 - ILWU Wins at Longwood

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/07

On this day in labor history, the year was 2011.That was the day hundreds of ILWU strikers blocked railroad tracks near Longview, Washington. They hoped to stop grain shipments from moving in and out of the EGT Grain Terminal. Longshoremen had been sitting down on the tracks throughout the summer resulting in over a hundred arrests. No trains had moved in or out of the terminal since July. But then a federal judge issued an injunction against ILWU pickets. BNSF railroad tried to move grain once

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01:59

September 6 - Thursday, Bloody Thursday

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/06

On this day in labor history, the year was 1934. That was the day that became known as “Bloody Thursday.” Seven striking workers were shot dead and another 30 wounded at the Chiquola Mill in Honea Path, South Carolina. The Great Textile Strike of 1934 had started September 1. The twenty-two day strike spanned the eastern United States, from New England to Georgia and involved close to half a million workers. The main issue was the dreaded “stretch out,” increased workloads at the same or even

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01:59

September 6 - Thursday, Bloody Thursday

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/06

On this day in labor history, the year was 1934. That was the day that became known as “Bloody Thursday.” Seven striking workers were shot dead and another 30 wounded at the Chiquola Mill in Honea Path, South Carolina. The Great Textile Strike of 1934 had started September 1. The twenty-two day strike spanned the eastern United States, from New England to Georgia and involved close to half a million workers. The main issue was the dreaded “stretch out,” increased workloads at the same or even

en

01:59

September 5 - The First Labor Day Parade

Labor History in 2:00 ·

2024/09/05

On this day in labor history, the year was 1882. That was the day the first Labor Day Parade took place in New York City. But whose idea was it? According to the late Jonathan Grossman, former historian at the Department of Labor, the first Labor Day occurred during a general uptick in working class organizing, strike activity and militancy that year. Peter McGuire, Carpenters Union General Secretary is often credited as the father of Labor Day. But others assert that Knights of Labor machinist

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