Labor History in 2:00

On this day in Labor History the year was 1908. That was the day that the Executive Board of the American Federation of Labor established its Metal Trades Department.  The goal was to coordinate the organizing and legislative efforts of those in the many metal trades. 

On this day in Labor History the year was 1921. During that summer the battle waged over the efforts to unionize the southwestern West Virginia coal mines. The miners had been evicted from their company homes, and had established tent colonies. One was located at Lick Creek.

On this day in Labor History the year was 1904.  That was the day that 18,000 workers in the Chicago’s stockyards went out on strike.  Work in the stockyards was often brutal and dangerous. Thousands of workers toiled in the yards, many of them immigrants from Eastern Europe.

On this day in Labor History the year was 1969. That was the day that labor leader John L. Lewis died. Born to a Welsh-American Coal mining family in Iowa, Lewis became the leading champion of industrial unionism in the 1930s.