On this day in labor history, the year was 1942. That was the day the completion of the Alaskan Highway or Alcan, was celebrated at Soldier’s Summit.  There had been proposals for a highway connecting the United States to Alaska since the early 1920s. Aft

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

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 Lincolns greatest speeches.Generations of students have been assigned to commit it to memory.The t

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 pi

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

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.SEIUs Justice for Janitors campaign had been organizing for years throughout the South and Southwest.

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 p

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 a

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 represent

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 pr