On Sept. 30, 1919, a group of nearly 100 black sharecroppers was holding a union meeting in a small church in Hoop Spur, a tiny hamlet near Elaine, Arkansas. The group, members of the Progressive Household Union of America, was determined to secure a fair settlement from the planters for the yearly cotton crop. The […]

For most who grew up in the 70s, the phrase “look for the union label” will cause an immediate reaction. Some will begin humming, while others will break out in song.  Those old enough to remember will reflect back upon the commercial responsible for this musical reaction.  Beginning in 1975, the International Ladies Garment Workers […]

Tom Morello is known by many as the guitarist for the band Rage Against the Machine. However, in recent years, Morello has also become known by his alter ego, the Nightwatchman, a modern day, labor-inspired Johnny Cash. His songs have become the soundtrack to the labor movement, from the grocery strike of 2003 to the […]

Short of the right to organize and join a union, there are few rights more sacred to the labor movement then the right to have union representation during an interrogation. Known as Weingarten Rights, these rights have protected millions of workers in the U.S. from harsh interrogations, coerced confessions or written statements and even legally […]

On the night of June 27th, 1894, the American Railway Union sent out a telegram calling for a boycott of all Pullman sleeping cars. Early the next morning, a switchman at the La Grande Station in Los Angeles refused to attach two Pullman sleeping cars to a train departing for San Francisco. Similar incidents transpired […]