US Labor History

1930-1939

 

1930
National Unemployed Council formed
Imperial Valley, California, Farmworkers' Strike
 
1931
Congress passes Davis-Bacon Act providing for payment of prevailing wages to workers
wmployed on public works projects
"Scottsboro Boys" arrested in Alabama
Harlan County, Kentucky, Miners' Strike
Tampa, Florida, Cigar Workers' Strike
 
1932
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt elected
Congress passes the Norris-LaGuardia Act, which prohibits federal injunctions in labor disputes
and outlaws yellow-dog contracts
Bonus March of World War I veterans on Washington, DC
American Federation of Government Employees founded
California Pea Pickers' Strike
Century Airlines Pilots' Strike
Davidson-Wilder, Tennessee, Coal Strike begins
Ford Hunger March in Detroit, Michigan
Four workers killed as protesters march on Ford Rouge Plant near Detroit seeking jobs during
the Great Depression
Vacaville, California Tree Pruners' Strike
 
1933
Congress passes the National Industrial Recovery Act, Section 7(a) of which guarantees rights
of employees to organize and bargain collectively
Frances Perkins becomes secretary of labor and the first woman named to a presidential cabinet
Newspaper Guild founded
Briggs Manufacturing Strike
California Farmworkers' Strikes
Detroit, Michigan, Tool and Die Strike
Hormel, Iowa, Meat-Packing Strike
New Mexico Miners' Strike
 
1934
Southern Tenant Farmers' Union founded
Harlem, New York City, Jobs-for-Negroes Boycott
Imperial Valley, California, Farmworkers' Strike
Minneapolis Teamsters' Strike
Newark Star-Ledger Newspaper Strike begins
Rubber Workers' Strike
San Francisco Longshoremen & General Strike
Textile Workers' Strike
Toledo, Ohio, Auto-Lite Strike
 
1935
US Supreme Court declares the National Industrial Recovery Act unconstitutional
Congress passes the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which protects the rights of
workers to organize and bargain collectively.
FD Roosevelt signs the labor-backed Social Security Act into law
Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) formed inside the American Federation of Labor
Negro Labor Committee founded
United Auto Workers founded
Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri Metal Workers' Strike
Pacific Northwest Lumber Strike
Southern Sharecroppers' and Farm Laborers' Strike
 
1936
President Franklin Roosevelt reelected
Steel Workers' Organizing Committee formed
Atlanta, Georgia, Auto Workers' Sit-Down Strike
Berkshire Knitting Mills Strike
First sit-down strike by auto workers starts at Bendix Products in South Bend, Indiana
General Motors Sit-Down Strike
RCA Strike
Rubber Workers' begin the nation's first major sit-down strike at the Firestone tire plant in
Akron, Ohio
Seamen's Strike
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Newspaper Strike
 
1937
US Supreme Court declares the NLRA constitutional
American Federation of Labor expels the CIO unions
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union founded
General Motors Sit-Down Strikes in US and Canada - stikes end after workers win first UAW
contract
Battle of the Overpass, Ford Motor Co. thugs beat Walter Reuther and other UAW organizers
in Dearborn, Michigan
Hershey, Pennsylvania, Chocolate Workers' Strike
Little Steel Strike and Memorial Day Massacre, ten strikers shot at Republic Steel in Chicago
US Steel signs a first contract with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee
 
1938
Congress passes the Fair Labor Standards Act, which establishes the forty-hour work week,
the minimum wage, and bans child labor in interstate commerce
Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) is founded with John L. Lewis as president
Chicago Newspaper Strike begins
Hilo, Hawaii, Massacre
Maytag Strike
US Supreme Court issues decision permitting employers to permanently replace strikers
 
1939
Chrysler Auto Strike
General Motors Tool and Diemakers' Strike
 
 1800  1950
 1900  1960
 1910  1970
 1920  1980
 1930  1990
 1940  

 
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