30 Years

From the pages of Labor Notes

We're remembering 30 years of Labor Notes with snapshots of labor history from our pages. Each month we'll be highlighting a story that ran in past issues of Labor Notes.

November 20, 1979, Issue #10

Concessions Trend Begins at Chrysler

Labor Notes Special Report: There were a number of historic firsts in the United Auto Workers-Chrysler agreement ratified this month. For one, Doug Fraser, president of the union, was elevated to the company board of directors...Read more


October 2001, Issue #271

September 11: A Volunteer's Story

The media reports of New Yorkers coming together are certainly true, and in some ways this has been a really inspirational time. I was lucky enough to volunteer both Wednesday and Thursday nights.... Read more


September, 1981, Issue #32

Solidarity Day 1981: 250,000 March on Washington

Everywhere you looked there were blue caps, union T-shirts, and jackets. In a country which prides itself on lacking class distinctions, for once the pride was in being workers and opposing the rich... Read more


August, 1981, Issue #31

Solidarity Begins with PATCO

The sign carried by a sympathizer on the Professional Air Traffic Controllers picket line at Detroit's Metropolitan Airport read: "Polish Solidarity American Style." With American unionists being fired and thrown in jail simply for exercising the right to strike, the comparison with Poland was inevitable... Read more


July, 1996, Issue #208

History in the Making: Labor Party Founded in Cleveland

Outsized buttons proclaimed it "history in the making." Indeed, nothing like it has been seen in the United States for decades. Over 1,500 members gathered in Cleveland June 6-9 to found a labor party...Read more


June, 1982, Issue #41

Roundup of Undocumented Workers Angers Union Organizers

"Operation Jobs," the roundup of undocumented workers carried out in May by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), brought anger and frustration to union members and officials in Chicago. But it has also brought a concern to find ways to defend undocumented workers...Read more


May, 1986, Issue #87

Leaders of Hormel Strike Arrested; International Holds Trusteeship Hearing

For four hours on April 11, 400 members and supporters of United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local P-9 shut down the Hormel plant in Austin, Minnesota by blocking the main gate to the building. They were dispersed only after police dressed in riot gear began firing tear gas into the crowd...Read more


April 1979, Issue #3

Teamster Steelhaulers Show Muscle in Three-Week Wildcat Strike

Some 10,000 Teamsters covered by the National Master Freight Agreement did not return to work when the official strike/lockout ended on April 10. They are the steelhaulers—a group which has caused headaches for the carriers and union officials before...Read more