Today in Labor History - Friday, August 05, 2011

August 05

Using clubs, police rout 1,500 jobless men who had stormed the plant of the Fruit Growers Express Co. in Indiana Harbor, Indiana, demanding jobs - 1931

During the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes the National Labor Board to enforce the right of collective bargaining. Ultimately declared illegal by the Supreme Court, it was replaced two years later by the National Labor Relations Board - 1933

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) took effect today. The first law signed by President Clinton, it allows many workers time off each year due to serious health conditions or to care for a family member - 1993
(The FMLA Handbook is a thorough, highly readable handbook, updated and expanded in early 2009, that will help every worker get the most out of the surprisingly comprehensive 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act. It explains how unions can protect workers who are absent from work for justifiable medical or family-care reasons; block compulsory "light-duty" work programs; force employers to allow part-time schedules; obtain attendance bonuses for workers absent for medical reasons; and much more. An important tool for every union’s arsenal.)

August 06
Cigarmakers' International Union of America merges with Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union - 1974

American Railway Supervisors Association merges with Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employees - 1980

Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of the US & Canada merges with Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employees - 1986

Workers at Verizon, the nation’s largest local telephone company, launch what is to become an 18-day strike over working conditions and union representation - 2000

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Today in Labor History - Friday, August 05, 2011