Historical Archive
Historical Articles
New UE Publication Outlines “Them and Us” Unionism
"UE is proud to announce the publication of a new booklet, Them and Us Unionism, which outlines our philosophy of unionism. We believe that it is time for the broader labor movement to return to the sort of class-struggle unionism that established the CIO and which UE...
Historian Erik Loomis on South African Mineworkers Challenging the Apartheid State
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis' work at Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 12, 1946. South African mineworkers went on strike, a critical moment in the struggle against racism and which is one...
Incorporating labor history in a public history curriculum
Public historians have an important role to play in disseminating narratives of American labor history that emphasize the struggles and contributions of workers of all races, genders, and sexual orientations and privilege the experiences of teachers, nurses, and...
Historian Erik Loomis on Taylorism and Stopwatch Time Studies
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis' work at Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 11, 1911. Workers at the Watertown Arsenal in Watertown, Massachusetts walked off the job as the scientific management...
Historian Erik Loomis on Mike Quill and the Transit Worker Union (TWU)
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 10, 1935. Transit Worker Union members descend on a New York jail to demand the release of their leaders, including Mike...
Historian Erik Loomis on the Forgotten Sector of Labor — Domestic Labor in the Home
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis' work at Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 9, 1910. The first patent for the electric washing machine is issued. Let's use this as a jumping off point to...
Historian Erik Loomis on Love Canal, Superfund, and Pollution Disasters that Define Working Class Lives
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik's work at Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 7, 1978. President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal due to the toxicity poisoning the residents....
Historian Erik Loomis on the Family and Medical Leave Act
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 5, 1993. The Family and Medical Leave Act went into effect. Let's talk about an important but ultimately minor piece of legislation that demonstrates the historical...
When Arab-American Detroit Auto Workers Struck for Palestinian Liberation
In 1973, Arab-American workers in Detroit auto plants walked off the job in protest of the UAW’s investment in bonds from the state of Israel. The incident is little-remembered today, but it shows how workers can organize against racism and colonialism — including...
Historian Erik Loomis on the Bracero Program
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 4, 1942. The United States and Mexico made an agreement to deliver contract Mexican labor to American farmers in order to serve as cheap replacement labor during World War...
Historian Erik Loomis on the Wheatland Riot
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Historian Erik Loom on This Day in Labor History: August 3, 1913. Police repression of IWW organizing in the fields outside Wheatland, California leads to gunshots, 4 deaths, and the railroading of organizers into prison. Let's...
The Strike That Busted Unions
Thirty-nine years ago today, when he threatened to fire nearly 13,000 air traffic controllers unless they called off an illegal strike, Ronald Reagan not only transformed his presidency, but also shaped the world of the modern workplace. More than any other labor...
Historian Erik Loomis on the El Monte Sweatshop Raid
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 2, 1995. California agents raided an apartment complex in El Monte, California, freeing 72 Thai immigrants forced to work in an illegal sweatshop. This case demonstrated...
Historian Erik Loomis on the Lynching of IWW Organizer Frank Little
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 1, 1917. The IWW organizer Frank Little is lynched in Butte, Montana. Let's talk about this horrible but famous incident! His murder, one of the most famous killings of a...
Presque Isle man played big role in Michigan history
Mike Westfall was offered a job at Solidarity House, the UAW’s headquarters in Detroit. It would’ve meant a pay raise and a second pension, but Westfall said he turned it down, because he wasn’t in it for the money. Today, Westfall can only look at his once-precious...
Historian Erik Loomis on the Founding of the Daughters of St. Crispin
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: July 28, 1869 -- The Daughters of St. Crispin was founded. This was the first national women’s labor union in American history and, while short lived, a great example of early...
Historian Erik Loomis on the UAW and the Challenges of Southern Organizing
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: July 27, 1989. Workers at the Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, rejected United Auto Workers representation by a 2-1 margin. Let's talk about the incredible difficulties of...
UAW History — The Treaty of Detroit
On May 23, 1950, the United Auto Workers and General Motors came to an agreement that became known as the Treaty of Detroit. This landmark agreement created labor peace in the auto industry but at the cost of the end of the the UAW’s attempt to gain greater control...
Historian Erik Loomis on Alexander Berkman’s Attempted Assassination of Henry Clay Frick
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Historian Erik Loomis on this day in labor history: July 23, 1892. The anarchist Alexander Berkman walked into the office of Carnegie Steel executive Henry Clay Frick with a knife and gun in order to kill him for his actions at...
Historian Erik Loomis on Prison Labor and the Coal Creek War
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: July 20, 1891. Militia forces guarding a stockade at a mine near Briceville, Tennessee surrendered to miners during the Coal Creek War to keep convict laborers from competing with...
Fight Back Shop Newsletter
Fighting Times Shop Newsletter Cartoons
Briggs Worker Shop Newsletter
“Running the Plant Backwards” in UAW Region 5
