This Month in History

  • Labor History: Concessions Trend Begins at Chrysler
    Labor Notes Staff
    Oct 20 2009 - 1:09am

    November 20, 1979, Issue #10: 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.

  • Solidarity Day 1981: 250,000 March on Washington
    Labor Notes staff
    Aug 27 2009 - 9:25pm

    We are willing to bet that a larger proportion of Labor Notes readers marched on Solidarity Day than of any other publication in America. But for those of you who couldn’t go, here’s an idea of what it was like.

  • Labor History: Solidarity Begins with PATCO
    Labor Notes staff
    Aug 17 2009 - 3:30pm

    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.

  • History in the Making: Labor Party Founded in Cleveland
    Jane Slaughter
    Jul 15 2009 - 1:40pm

    Outsized buttons proclaimed it “history in the making.” Indeed, nothing like it has been seen in the United States for decades.

  • History in the Making: Labor Party Founded in Cleveland
    Jane Slaughter
    Jul 15 2009 - 1:37pm

    Over 1,500 union members gathered in Cleveland June 6-9 to found a labor party. A groundswell of interest in the last two months turned what convention organizers had expected to be an event of 500-700 delegates to one of twice that size. The 1,367 delegates were joined by 200 or more observers.

  • History in the Making: Labor Party Founded in Cleveland
    Jane Slaughter
    Jul 15 2009 - 12:51pm
    ** Print only

    Outsized buttons proclaimed it “history in the making.” Indeed, nothing like it has been seen in the United States for decades. Over 1,500 union members gathered in Cleveland June 6-9 to found a labor party. A groundswell of interest in the last two months doubled the turn-out convention organizers had expected ….