History Of Labor

Boilermakers Local 263

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"Labor wants more schoolhouses and less jails;

More books and less arsenals;

More learning and less vice;

More constant work and less crime;

More leisure and less greed;

More justice and less revenge; in fact,

More of the opportunities to cultivate our better nature."

- Samuel Gompers, first president of the AFL, when asked what does labor want

As an organized labor union, we all enjoy the many benefits that come along with it - overtime pay, vacation pay, pension and annuity, and health care coverage, just to name a few. However, what we are accustomed to receiving, other union members had to fight for diligently in the past, often times sacrificing their livelihood and sometimes even their lives. The links below will show you just how hard our union brothers and sisters, from machinists to the UAW, worked to achieve the quality of life we and our families enjoy today. Please take a moment to educate yourself on the history of labor....

The UAW has paved the way for all unions to achieve a better lifestyle. Click here to review a timeline of the UAW. You will see that many of the benefits that were negotiated by them over the past century are the same benefits that we enjoy today.

The AFL-CIO has compiled a timeline of labor dating back to the 1600's. Click here to view.

"One hundred years ago, American workers faced a bleak future. Men, women and often their children worked long hours in unsafe conditions for meager wages in their struggle to pay the rent and put food on the family table. As the century dawned, workers increasingly began joining together in a nationwide union movement to counter the brutal working conditions of the Industrial Age."

Excerpted from "100 Years of Struggle and Success", an interactive photo essay provided by the AFL-CIO. Please click here to view this interesting and informative visual history.

Walter P. Reuther led the UAW from 1946 until his tragic death in 1970. Through his hard work and sacrifice, he vastly improved the lives of union workers in Michigan, as well as the rest of the country.

Take a moment to learn more about Walter Reuther by clicking here.

To learn more about the Walter P. Reuther library at Wayne State University, click here.

Click here to read the story of Joe Hill, an early 1900's union organizer who was executed in Utah in 1915. This story also details the struggle of the Labor Movement in the early 1900's.

Heroes of the American Labor Movement

Click on the links below to learn more about the people that helped improve the lives of working Americans

(all text taken from the AFL-CIO website)

Cesar Estrada Chavez Folk hero and symbol of hope who organized a union of farmworkers	Nelson Hale Cruikshank Helped create Social Security and Medicare	Eugene Victor Debs Apostle of industrial unionism
Thomas Reilly Donahue Champion of labor renewal and former AFL-CIO president	Arthur Joseph Goldberg Legal strategist for the union movement and former Secretary of Labor	Samuel Gompers First and longest-serving president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL)
William Green Former AFL president, moved the federation toward "social unionism"	Joe Hill Songwriter, itinerant laborer, union organizer - and martyr	Sidney Hillman Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America founder invented trade unionism as we know it today
Mother Jones "The most dangerous woman in America"	Lane Kirkland Former AFL-CIO president had a profound effect on world affairs	John L. Lewis President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and founding president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
Lucy Randolph Mason Social reformer dedicated to workers' rights and racial justice	Peter J. McGuire The "father" of Labor Day and of May Day; championed the need for a national labor federation	George Meany The builder of the modern AFL-CIO
Philip Murray CIO president who helped transform industrial union movement into a stable and powerful organization	Francis Perkins Committed labor secretary and first woman in a presidential cabinet position	Esther Eggersten Peterson Eloquent and effective advocate for the rights of workers, women and consumers
A. Philip Randolph Organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and fought discrimination in national defense	Walter Reuther Long-time president of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) considered the model of a reform-minded, liberal trade unionist	Bayard Rustin Brilliant theorist, tactician and organizer and first head of the A. Philip Randolph Institute

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