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Lowell mill women
the Lowell mill women organized, went on strike and mobilized in politics when women couldn't even vote and created the first union of working women in American history.The Lowell, Mass., textile mills where they worked were widely admired. But for the young women from around New England who made the mills run, they were a living hell.mill girls worked an average of nearly 13 hours a day. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
Congress passes the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Intended to block business monopolies, it will be used effectively by employers against unions. -
Anti-Labor Injunction
A federal court issues the first injunction against a union under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The case, brought against the Workingman's Amalgamated Council of New Orleans for interfering with the movement of commerce, hands managers a potent legal weapon. -
Pullman Strike
nion workers walk out of the factory of the Pullman Company in Pullman, Illinois, in spite of the paternalistic treatment the company had afforded to workers. The strike, organized by Eugene V. Debs and the American Railway Union, will end in total defeat. -
Cripple Creek, Colo
Cripple Creek had become a boom town after gold was discovered. Some 150 mines sprang up. So did a strong miners union—the Free Coinage Union No. 19, which was part of the militant Western Federation of Miners -
First State Minimum Wage Law
Massachusetts adopts the first minimum wage law, setting a floor under the pay of women and minors. Other states will pass similar laws beginning the same year. -
Truman Breaks Railroad Strike
President Truman ends a strike against the nation's railroads by threatening to take them over and draft workers into the army. His hard line is a harbinger that the nation's sympathy for unions is running out. -
New York Teachers Strike
A New York City teachers strike ends after depriving more than a million public school students of an education during 36 school days. Pitting union power against the public interest, the strike adds to the distrust of organized labor and exacerbates racial tensions. -
Homestead Strike
A lockout at the Homestead Steel Works turns violent as 300 Pinkerton detectives hired by the company arrive at the mills by barge. Workers picketing the plant greet the Pinkerton's with violence and the confrontation soon becomes a full-scale pitched battle, with seven Pinkertons and eleven union members killed. Court injunctions help to crush the union, safeguarding the steel industry from organized labor for decades.
