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National Labor Union
The National Labor Union was the first national labor federation in the United States. Founded in 1866 and dissolved in 1873, it paved the way for other organizations, such as the Knights of Labor and the AFL. -
13th Amendment
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. -
Great Southwest Railroad Strike
The Great Southwest railroad strike of 1886 was a labor union strike involving more than 200,000 workers. -
Haymarket Riot
The Haymarket affair was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on Tuesday May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago. -
AFL
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations is a national trade union center and the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of fifty-six national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million active and retired workers. -
Shirtwaist Factory Fire
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911 was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the deadliest in US history. -
Steel Stike of 1959
The steel strike of 1919 was an attempt by the weakened Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers to organize the United States steel industry in the wake of World War I. The strike began on September 21, 1919, and collapsed on January 8, 1920. -
Textile Workers Strike of 1934
The textile workers' strike of 1934 was the largest strike in the labor history of the United States at the time, involving 400,000 textile workers from New England, the Mid-Atlantic states and the U.S. Southern states, lasting twenty-two days. -
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1935
The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments. -
The Wagner Act
The Wagner Act, also known as the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, is the most important piece of labor legislation enacted in U.S. history. It made the federal government the arbiter of employer-employee relations through the creation of the national labor relations board and recognized for the first time the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively with their employers.
