Association of Flight Attendants-CWA
Continental Master Executive Council
THIS MONTH IN LABOR HISTORY
By: Laura Oleson, Government Affairs Chair
Continental Master Executive Council
"Yes, you need the water.Yes, you need the sun. But that alone won't give you the plant.You need the
working hands to give it life."
-Adrian Alvarez
During the Month of May:
May. The warmest of
spring months. When April showers
bring in May flowers,
we bask in the warm
weather and delight
of the summer
months ahead. It is
the time when
parents of teens begin to face the fact that their
children are really growing up into adulthood. This
is the time of proms and graduations. We watch
those who were once little people learning to walk,
get ready to go off to college, walk out the door and
face the world on their own. May is a month we
also celebrate the 8 hour work day. May 1 signifies
not only May Day, but International Workers Day. This day was brought to you by the Labor Unions
who fought for your rights and benefits! It is only
befitting that we get a spring day to celebrate. As
we tip our hats off to those who paved the way, we
salute those parents who raised their children from
tots to teens and into adulthood who have
benefitted from the work of the Labor movement! Onward we go to ensure that these things remain
for our children as well.
O!er highlights in " labor
movement for May are:
Milestones in Labor History
1
1830 - Birthdate of renowned labor organizer
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones. A fiery speaker,
and fearless agitator, she lived a full 100 years.
Most of her time in the Labor Movement was
spent on behalf of coal miners, but she fought
for workers everywhere. At the age of 89 she
was active in the great steel strike of 1919.
1886 - 350,000 workers demonstrate in
Chicago for eight-hour workday, beginning
tradition of May Day as International Workers'
Day.
1888 - Nineteen machinists at the East
Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railroad
assembled in a locomotive pit to decide what to
do about a wage cut. They voted to form a
union, which became the International
Association of Machinists.
3-4
1886 - Four people were killed when police
opened fire in a crowd of workers participating
in a general strike at McCormick Harvester
Company in Chicago. At a rally in Haymarket
Square the following day to protest police
brutality, events once again took a violent turn.
A bomb exploded killing one police officer.
Police responded by firing into the crowd, killing
one and wounding many. Subsequently eight
labor leaders were framed for the bombing.
Four were eventually put to death.
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Association of Flight Attendants-CWA
Continental Master Executive Council
THIS MONTH IN LABOR HISTORY
9
1970 - UAW and former CIO President Walter
Reuther killed in a plane crash while visiting
union's educational center at Black Lake,
Michigan.
10
1894 - Pullman Railway car employees strike to
protest wage cuts. Nationwide walkout broken
by federal troops and court injunctions.
13
1971 - Members of five postal unions vote in
favor of merger. Nationwide vote for merger
was 152,460 to 6,453 constituting a majority of
95.9%.
17
1977 - Death of Francis "Stu" Filbey, first
general president of APWU.
22
1920 - Lehlbach-Sterling Retirement Bills
signed by President Wilson allowing Railway
Mail Clerks retirement eligibility at 62, clerks,
carriers, mechanics at 65, all others at 70.
26
1937 - "Battle of the Overpass." Ford Motor
company police attack and severely beat
United Auto Workers (UAW) organizers at a
Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Despite
Henry Ford Senior' s determination to "never
recognize the United Auto Workers Union or
any other union," Ford Motor Company
eventually signed a collective bargaining
agreement with the UAW in 1942.
30
1937 - "Memorial Day Massacre." Ten striking
steelworkers are shot and killed by police and
100 wounded while peacefully demonstrating
outside Republic Steel Company in Chicago.
With this letter, I finished one complete year of
information that helped transform the labor
movement. So many things have happened over the
decades that paved the way to where we are today. It is a long story, the history of Labor in America, one
that we continue to write even to this day. We have
watched and learned from those who came before
us, stood up for rights and those rights are still
fighting for us today. Lest we forget the important
milestones that continue to withstand the many years
of unions -- through the fights of those to try to stop
them. The labor movement is still strong and alive
throughout the world. With each and every one of its
members standing strong, we have the will to
continue to prosper and remain strong!
Thank you for reading, it has been a pleasure writing
for you all!
Laura Oleson
CAL AFA MEC CHAIR
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
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