Labor History in 2:00

Nov 20 2024 100 ep. 1 mins 1.1k
Labor History in 2:00 Podcast artwork

A daily, pocket-sized history of America's working people, brought to you by The Rick Smith Show team.

  Education  History
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November 20 - Rose Pesotta is Born

Nov 20 2024 1 mins  
On this day in labor history, the year was 1896. That was the day anarchist and labor activist Rose Pesotta was born. Her name, Rakhel Peisoty, was changed, like so many others’, at Ellis Island. She had fled tsarist Russia in 1913 as a teenager and soon found work in New York City’s garment shops. She readily joined the ILGWU, becoming a national organizer by 1920. In the late

November 19 - Lincoln Delivers the Gettysburg Address

Nov 19 2024 1 mins  
On this day in labor history, the year was 1863. That was the day President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. It is considered one of Lincoln’s greatest speeches. Generations of students have been assigned to commit it to memory. The two-minute speech carries a deep significance in our country’s history. Lincoln delivered the speech at the dedication of the

November 18 - Flight Attendants Defang American Airlines

Nov 18 2024 1 mins  
On this day in labor history, the year was 1993. That was the day 21,000 attendants, mostly women, caught American Airlines by surprise in their first strike ever against the company. 80% of all fights were cancelled a week before Thanksgiving as solid picket lines formed at forty airports across the country. CEO Robert Crandell, who commanded a $ million a year salary and preferre

November 17 - By Hammer and Hand, All Arts Do Stand

Nov 17 2024 1 mins  
On this day in labor history, the year was 1785. That was the day the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York was founded. Twenty-two skilled craftsmen, with the motto, “By Hammer and Hand All Arts Do Stand,” met on Pine Street to form a benevolent organization that could provide cultural, educational and social services to craftsmen and their famili

November 16 - Justice for Janitors

Nov 16 2024 1 mins  
On this day in labor history, the year was 2006. That was the day mounted police charged 50 janitors and their supporters during a protest in Houston. SEIU’s Justice for Janitors campaign had been organizing for years throughout the South and Southwest. Modeled on success achieved in California, SEIU broadened their campaign to Houston and Miami. The union called a month long

November 15 - Deadly Leak at DuPont

Nov 15 2024 1 mins  
On this day in labor history, the year was 2014. That was the day four workers were killed and a fifth injured during a chemical leak at a DuPont insecticide plant near Houston. The plant used methyl mercaptan in its production of insecticides. 24,000 pounds of the deadly chemical were released through two valves in a poorly ventilated building onsite. The U.S. Chemical Safety Bo

November 14 - Fighting Lead

Nov 14 2024 1 mins  
On this day in labor history, the year was 1978. That was the day OSHA published its lead standard. The standard reduced permissible exposure by 75% to protect nearly a million workers from damage to nervous, urinary and reproductive systems. As early as 1908, Alice Hamilton, the mother of occupational medicine, noted that lead had endangered workers as far back as “the first h

November 13 - Workplace Safety Hero Dies in Suspicious Crash

Nov 13 2024 1 mins  
On this day in labor history, the year was 1974. That was the day Karen Silkwood was killed in a mysterious car crash. Though her death was ruled a one car accident, some maintain she was forced off the road. Silkwood was a union activist and representative for Local 5-283 of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers. She worked at Kerr McGee’s Cimarron plutonium plant in Crescent,

November 12 - Ellis Island Closes

Nov 12 2024 1 mins  
On this day in labor history, the year was 1954. That was the day Ellis Island closed its doors. More than 12 million immigrants had passed through its gates since its opening in 1892. Those steerage and third-class passengers coming to America were processed at the island between 1892 and 1924. They were routinely subject to medical inspections to determine they were free of di

November 11 - Execution of the Haymarket Martyrs

Nov 11 2024 1 mins  
On this day in Labor History the year was 1887. That was a tragic day for the labor movement. Four men were hung in Chicago for their alleged role in the bombing at a labor rally at the city’s Haymarket Square a year earlier. In a sensational trial a total of eight men were convicted for Haymarket.