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Haymarket Riot
A rally at Haymarket Square was organized by labor radicals to protest the killing and wounding of workers by the police during a strike the day before at the McCormick Reaper Works. As the police was trying to disperse the croud a bomb was thrown. The police opened fire on every one. 8 dead and many injured. -
American Federation of Labor
Founded by Samuel Gompers who started out as a cigarmaker then rose within union ranks. He focused on three workplace reforms: Higher wages, shorter hours, and safer worki enviroment. -
Strike by Pulllman railroad workers
During the economic depression George Pullman decided to cut costs by firing 1/3 of his working and cutting pay by 25%. The town which was owned by Pullman was mad and decided to strike. All the workers didnt work. They then boycotted Pullmans buisness. Railroad workers in 27 states joined the boycott. 34 people killed in the riots. -
Triangle shirtwaist company fire
Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City burned, killing 145 workers. The incident was preventable if better working conditions and less fire hazards. Because of this incident many laws and regulations. -
Wagner Act
The Wagner act proposed to create a new independent agency—the National Labor Relations Board, made up of three members chosen by the President and confirmed by the Senate-to enforce employee rights rather than just try to stop fights. -
Fair Labor Standards Act
Established minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers. The bill also said that any hours worked over 40 in one workweek would require pay rate of time and a half. It was this union-endorsed bill that gave Americans the weekend. -
Taft-Hartley Act
It allows the president to appoint a board of inquiry to investigate union disputes when he believes a strike would endanger national health or safety, and obtain an 80-day injunction to stop the continuation of a strike.It also forbids jurisdictional strikes and secondary boycotts. -
afl and cio merge
The AFL and the CIO were rivals for the twenty year period before merging.This split between the AFL and the CIO became a crippling force in a movement that is only strong with solidarity, a fact which was not lost on either organization. By the 1950’s the groups realized that they would be much stronger and more effective as a single organization. In 1955 the two groups merged and became known as the AFL-CIO, the same organization which continues their struggle today.
