Today in Labor History Sept 23 Owner Jay Hormel agreed to recognize the Independent Union

[Omaha Steve]

September 23 (posted a day late)

The Workingman's Advocate of Chicago publishes the first installment of The Other Side, by Martin A. Foran, president of the Coopers' International Union. Believed to be the first novel by a trade union leader and some say the first working-class novel ever published in the U.S. - 1868

A coalition of Knights of Labor and trade unionists in Chicago launch the United Labor party, calling for an 8-hour day, government ownership of telegraph and telephone companies, and monetary and land reform. The party elects seven state assembly men and one senator - 1886

September 23, 1933 - Owner Jay Hormel agreed to recognize the Independent Union of All Workers after workers at the Hormel plant in Austin, Minnesota, massed at the front gate and refused to go in. Labor leader Frank Ellis stood his ground and Hormel relented, signing an agreement before the entire crowd. But it would take a sitdown strike three months later to get the company to implement a badly needed wage increase.

A 42-month strike by Steelworkers at Bayou Steel in Louisiana ends in a new contract and the ousting of scabs - 1996

California Gov. Gray Davis (D) signs legislation making the state the first to offer workers paid family leave - 2002

Labor history found here: http://www.unionist.com/today-in-labor-history & here: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_09_23_2010