Today in Labor History Apr 8, 128 are killed, (WPA) is approved by Congress, more

[Omaha Steve]

April 8

128 convict miners, leased to a coal company under the state’s shameful convict lease system, are killed in an explosion at the Banner coal mine outside Birmingham, Ala. The miners were mostly African-Americans jailed for minor offenses - 1911

President Wilson establishes the War Labor Board, composed of representatives from business and labor, to arbitrate disputes between workers and employers during World War I - 1918

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is approved by Congress. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed the WPA during the Great Depression of the 1930s when almost 25 percent of Americans were unemployed. It created low-paying federal jobs providing immediate relief, putting 8.5 million jobless to work on projects ranging from construction of bridges, highways and public buildings to arts programs like the Federal Writers' Project - 1935

President Harry S Truman orders the U.S. Army to seize the nation’s steel mills to avert a strike. The Supreme Court ruled the act illegal three weeks later - 1952


April 9, 1970 - Public school teachers went on strike in Minneapolis, violating court orders not to walk out. The members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers sought pay raises and the right to collectively bargain. Local Union President Norm Moen said, “As an English teacher, I remember the example of Thoreau. We are taking a courageous action against an oppressive and repressive law.”

With support from AFL-CIO unions and despite the opposition of groups such as the American Legion (which evicted the union from its building), the teachers reached a reasonable settlement, including amnesty for the strikers. A year later, the Minnesota Legislature passed the Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PELRA) strengthening collective bargaining rights for public employees.

For more information
Read accounts of the strike in the Minneapolis Labor Review archives, on line at www.minneapolisunions.org

The Minnesota Historical Society has a page devoted to resources and links on the strike:
http://www.mnhs.org/library/tips/history_topics/83teachersstrike.html

Labor history found here: http://www.unionist.com/today-in-labor-history & here: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_04_09_2011