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first textile mill in United States built.
On June 20th 1790, the first textile mill was established in pawtucket rhode island. this marked the first major labor center being built in the United states. -
first 8 hour workday for federal employees
on January first of 1868, federal employees got to enjoy the first eight hour workday. This was a result of proclamation 182, which ensured federal workers to not be forced to work over a 8 hours in any given day, following large backing from labor unions. -
railroad worker strikes of 1886
following many clashes between the labor unions and Jay Gould, the owner of the Missouri and union pacific railroads for better pay and working hours, 200,000 workers went on strike to protest the lack of acknowledgement from the railroads for their demands, causing a major temporary economic halt in the U.S. while the railroads weren't functioning. -
taft-hartly act passed
following the sharp economic decline after WW2, many strikes occurred in the USA to petition the government and businesses to hire more and pay more following a large labor force participation bump. With widespread strikes further crippling a struggling post war economy, the Taft-Hartley act was passed to restrict rights of unions in the form of criminalizing certain acts of striking. -
President Kennedy signs EO 10988
President kennedy signs executive order 10988, giving federally employees the right to join unions and bargain for wages and working conditions. -
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
President LBJ signed the civil rights act of 1964, and more specifically title 7, which mandated there be no discrimination in the workforce in both public and private sectors. -
air traffic control strike of 1981
following a massive strike of 11,589 federal air traffic control workers, president Ronald Reagan fired all strikers for defying federal law mandating that federal workers cannot strike when the welfare of the nation is at stake. this was a major power move that solidified that federal workers are mandated to do there job or go home. -
family and medical leave act passed
President Clinton signed the 1999 FML act that gave federal and private sector workers guaranteed paid leave time for medical and family emergency, pregnancy among others. -
The Department of Labor and Commerce established
the department of labor and commerce was established by an act of congress in 1903.This government agency was created to actively work to maintain and establish new workers protections and rights. the secretary of this department was also given a seat in the presidents cabinet.
