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Uriah Stephens forms the Knights of Labor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was a secret society, the Knights were able to organize workers all over the United States of America under the laws of management.
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A strike against the Baltimore and Ohio railroad ignites a series of strikes across the Northeast. The violences and disturbances that come result in a labor dispute.
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A labor rally at the Haymarket Square in Chicago, Illinois, called in support for the eight-hour day, which erupts into chaos when an unknown party tosses a bomb at the police.
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In the wake of the Haymarket incident, a labor organizer named Samuel Gompers sets up the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
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Congress passes the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Intended to block business monopolies it will be used effectively by employers against unions.
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A lockout at the Homestead Steel Works turns violent as 300 Pinkerton detectives hired by the company arrive at the mills by barge.
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A federal court issues the first injuction against a union under the Sherman Anti Trust Act.
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Union workers walk out of the factory of the Pullman Company in Pullman, Illinois.
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Western Miners and other activists form the Industrial Workers of the world at a convention in Chicago.
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The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) calls a strike in New York.
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A bomb explodes at the headquarters of the stridently anti-union Los Angeles, California.
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A fire in lower Manhattan kills 146 women workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.
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Massachusetts adopts the first minimum wage law.
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The United States of Labor is established as a cabinet-level agency.
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Violence breaks out in a camp housing striking miners in Ludlow, Colorado.