J. Albert Mann, author of “Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States,” a children’s book that’s unusual not just in its subject matter but in the way it treats kids seriously as the future citizens they are. Recorded live at the Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium in Wheeling, West Virginia on August 31, 2024. Recording by Patric…

Walter Reuther’s name is forever linked to Detroit, Michigan, where he and his brother Victor built the United Automobile Workers -- the UAW -- into one of the largest and most progressive labor unions in American history. In Wheeling, West Virginia, where he was born on September 1, 1907, Reuther is a hometown boy who made good. Each year for the …

Labor action is effectively one of two things: political action, or direct action. This week, from the Solidarity Forever podcast, we learn about political action, in the courts through the landmark Pullis decision, and charting the rise and fall of the Working Man's Parties in the days of Andy Jackson. On this week’s Labor History in Two: the year…

Blood in the Streets, photographer Chuck Avery’s illustrated history of American labor struggles, and Kurt Stand shares an excerpt from his essay, Peekskill, 1949: What Was Lost, What Remained, What It Means Today. On this week’s Labor History in Two: the year was 1918; that was the day that 101 leaders of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) …

Labor historian Peter Rachleff on how a Midwest strike helped shape national labor law plus a preview of his talk on the 1886 takeover of the Richmond (VA) City Council by black and white union activists. On this week’s Labor History in Two: the birth of the original Rebel Girl, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcom…

Between 1955 and 1965, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) investigated numerous southern institutions of higher education that had dismissed faculty members for publicly supporting desegregation and racial equality. In today’s episode, from the AAUP Presents podcast, a discussion with Joy Ann Williamson-Lott, dean of the gradu…

From the Fragile Juggernaut podcast; the escalating confrontation between fascism and anti-fascism in the 1930’s and ‘40’s; Was there an American fascism? Where did it come from and what did it look like? How did it relate to the labor movement? And what was the meaning of the Popular Front, the broad left coalition against fascism? Questions that …

Sweet Honey in the Rock founder Bernice Johnson Reagon, on today’s Labor Heritage Power Hour Today’s labor history: First US general strike Today’s labor quote: Bernice Johnson Reagon @wpfwdc @AFLCIO #1u #UnionStrong #LaborRadioPod Proud founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network저자 laborhistorytoday

The Labor and Energy podcast takes a look Today’s labor history: Alliance for Labor Action founded Today’s labor quote: Thomas Donahue @wpfwdc @AFLCIO #1u #UnionStrong #LaborRadioPod Proud founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network저자 laborhistorytoday

A Teamster leader speaks out on The Real News Network Today’s labor history: Anarchist attacks steel magnate Today’s labor quote: Alexander Berkman @wpfwdc @AFLCIO #1u #UnionStrong #LaborRadioPod Proud founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network저자 laborhistorytoday

On July 17, 1944, a group of sailors and civilians were loading ships with ammunition and bombs at Port Chicago, a naval magazine and barracks in the San Francisco Bay Area. Tragically, the ships blew up in a massive explosion that instantly killed 320 workers and injured hundreds more. Most of the dead were African Americans, since racial segregat…

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion in the United States nearly 50 years ago. The decision sent shock waves across the country and through the American labor movement, which recognizes that reproductive rights are a worker issue, affecting millions of working women and their fa…

In this episode, I discuss the AAUP’s involvement in the Black Freedom Struggle in the 1950s and 1960s as it related to higher ed with Joy Ann Williamson-Lott, dean of the graduate school and professor of social and cultural foundations in the College of Education at the University of Washington. Drawing on her recently published article of the sam…

I’m up in British Columbia this week for the first time since the pandemic; it’s a beautiful place and at least where my friend Phil and I go, it’s very peaceful, the perfect place to unwind and relax. But, as you'll hear, today’s show is anything but peaceful: it’s about a 1966 wildcat strike by 400 mostly women members of the International Brothe…

This week, in an encore of a show we first aired on July 10, 2022, labor history takes a deep dive into "True Crime" `. Billy Gohl was called "The Ghoul of Grays Harbor" in the early 20th Century when he was accused of being the murderer who dumped several bodies into the canals around Aberdeen in Washington State. Was he one of America's first ser…

Contrary to the common belief that white activists were purged from the Black freedom movement in the mid-1960 and 1970s, Black-led organizations in Detroit – including the Northern Student Movement, the City-Wide Citizens Action Committee, and the League of Revolutionary Workers—actually called on white activists to organize within their own white…

Kansas City native Thomas Frank talks with the Heartland Labor Forum radio show about his new book about American populism, the long trail of elites who hate it, why pundits called Donald Trump a populist and why he’s nothing of the kind. Harvey J. Kaye on The Fight for The Four Freedoms: What Made FDR and The Greatest Generation Truly Great, from …

Chris visits the restored home of Kate Mullany, one of the least-known – and most interesting -- labor leaders in American history. Learn more here and check out the Don’t Iron While the Strike is Hot! musical here. On this week’s Labor History in Two: Labor leader Helen Marot was born to a wealthy Quaker family in Philadelphia. Questions, comments…

Today’s show is excerpted from “Pride on the Line: The UAW and Queer-Labor Solidarity after Stonewall” by Jamie McQuaid, part of the Our Daily Work Our Daily Lives Brown Bag series from Michigan State University. The talk took place in September 2022 and this originally aired on LHT on 10/30/22. On this week’s Labor History in Two: Wall Street Lays…

Joe McCartin, Ben Blake and Julie Greene remember the 1937 Memorial Day Massacre, when police opened fire on striking steelworkers at Republic Steel in South Chicago, killing ten and wounding more than 160. Patrick Dixon interviews Tom Sito on the 1941 strike by animators against Walt Disney. Sito, a well-known American animator (Who Framed Roger R…

A mural celebrating Ben Fletcher – “The Black Wobbly” – was unveiled in Philadelphia on May 18; check out our audio postcard. On this week’s Labor History in Two: Remembering C.L.R. James Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor Histo…

Before last Friday, to know about the 1938 crab pickers strike in Crisfield, Maryland, you had to know about it. This is the story of so many worker struggles in this country; hard-fought fights that unlike other battles – the Civil War, for example – have virtually no monuments or plaques, no visitor centers. But now, on Crisfield Highway, Marylan…

As campus protests in support of Palestine are met with often violent and repressive crackdowns, we talk to three faculty members, all AAUP members, who report on what's happening at their respective campuses. We speak to Annelise Orleck at Dartmouth College, whose arrest at a May 1 protest at Dartmouth garnered significant press coverage, Todd Wol…

In 1946, as part of a strike-ending agreement negotiated between the Department of the Interior and the United Mine Workers of America, photographer Russell Lee went into coal communities located in remote areas across the United States, documenting miners in 13 states. Photographs from this federal project have rarely been studied or exhibited—unt…

In this episode we dive into how data, educational technologies (or “EdTech”), and other technological forces are shaping and sometimes harming higher education. The guests are Martha Fay Burtis, an associate director of the Open Learning and Teaching Collaborative at Plymouth State University, and Jesse Stommel, a faculty member in the writing pro…

As violent, militarized responses to protests on campuses across the country continue, in this episode we look at how political interference in higher education has expanded in dangerous ways. We discuss how the right (and increasingly the center) have demonized higher education as a public good, and examine the historical origins of the current on…

To call the April 19 vote by Volkswagen AG workers in Tennessee to unionize historic may be a bit of an understatement. Not only was it the first foreign-owned auto plant in the South to organize, the vote was a mind-blowing 2,628-985, or 73% in favor. The win by the United Auto Workers came after decades of losses as plant after plant opened acros…

Abolitionist John Brown is mistaken for a Black Lives Matter activist in Gene Bruskin’s latest labor musical, and a tour guide keeps Black worker history alive. Excerpted from the Labor Heritage Power Hour radio show. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHist…

The 1934 Toledo Auto-Lite strike is one of the three most important in U.S. history, yet it’s largely unknown; why? Plus: CBTU president Terry Melvin on why the AFL-CIO’s Gompers Room was renamed the Solidarity Room. On this week’s Labor History in Two: Debs goes to prison. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you ca…

Faculty and student groups at more than 50 U.S. college and university campuses will hold a National Day of Action for Higher Education on Wednesday, April 17 in a coordinated nationwide counterprotest against the sustained right-wing assault on American higher education as a public good. Organizers say the Day of Action for Higher Education will d…

On the 35th anniversary of the Pittston Coal strike, we revisit our 2019 interview with Richard Trumka about the historic strike. On this week’s Labor History in Two: The Upper Big Branch mine disaster. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.…

Labor historian Joe McCartin on the labor connection to National Rifle Association v. Vullo. On this week’s Labor History in Two: Remembering ILWU leader Harry Bridges. Read more: New York's Coercion of Private Companies to Blacklist the NRA Has a Long and Dark History Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be …

Today’s show comes to us from Re:Work, a woman-led radio show and podcast from the UCLA Labor Center, spotlighting the voices of workers, immigrants, and people of color. “Changing Lives, Changing L.A.” is a play created from transcripts from the UNITE HERE Local 11 Oral History Project and originally performed before a live audience at Loyola Mary…

From On The Line, the story of Diana Kilmury, the bold and fearless truck driver who took on both sexist attitudes on the job and a corrupt union. On this week’s Labor History in Two: Big Bill Haywood Talks General Strike. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at Labo…

The Power at Work podcast’s Joseph Brant reveals the winners of their Labor Oscars, all of which are classics of the genre. On this week’s Labor History in Two: The Slovak Strike. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today…

David Corn, Washington D.C. Bureau Chief for Mother Jones, brings us “A Story of Mother Jones (the Labor Organizer) That’s Relevant a Century Later”. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heri…

The history of Women's History Month, and Women in the U.S. Labor Movement, a special report from the Work Stoppage podcast, plus “We Were There” by Bev Grant and the New York City Labor Chorus, and, on Labor History in Two, the year was 1990; that was the day 9,300 workers walked out at Greyhound bus lines. NOTE: Bev Grant and the DC Labor Chorus …

From Florida to Texas to Ohio to Indiana politicians in some states are trying to substitute their own ideological beliefs for educational freedom by passing legislation that interferes with how colleges and universities operate. They’re introducing bills that mandate or prohibit content in the classroom, empower partisan political appointees to de…

Ben Fletcher was one of the most important black labor leaders in American history. Yet he’s almost entirely unknown. In today’s show, from the Working Class History podcast, and in honor of Black History Month, we learn about this little-known dock worker and labor organizer, who helped organize thousands of workers on the Philadelphia docks into …

Jeff Barnes was born and raised in Tazewell, Virginia, in the heart of coal country. He lives, writes, and practices law in Richmond. His novel “Mingo”, published in 2021, was inspired by his childhood fascination with the 1919 Matewan Massacre, which occurred during the bitter, brutal Coal Mine Wars and the stories his father told of growing up in…

The Valley Labor Report reports. Today’s labor history: Striking Hollywood writers return to work. Today’s labor quote: Bill Fletcher Jr. @LaborReporters @BillFletcherJr @wpfwdc @AFLCIO #1u #UnionStrong #LaborRadioPod Proud founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network저자 laborhistorytoday

Art Shields covered it all, as a reporter for the Daily Worker on the front lines in Spain, as a labor journalist, and organizer himself. He covered many key events for the left including the defense of Sacco & Vanzetti, the Battle of Blair Mountain, the organizing drives in Harlan County, the sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan, and many more. Art …

David Byrne called him "the Diego Rivera of Pittsburgh." The Steel Workers’Solidarity Works podcast talks with two of their union’s members who are dedicating their time and expertise to saving the historic murals of Croatian painter and immigrant Maxo Vanka, which cover the walls of the St. Nicholas Croatian Church in Pittsburgh, and which depict …

Last October, Union Dues podcast host Simon Sapper took LHT’s Chris Garlock on a labor history walk in London; our November 5 episode covers our visit to the site of the factory where the 1888 Matchgirls Strike took place. Simon took us to several other nearby sites that illustrated the way workers lived -- and struggled – in those days; most of th…

Original airdate January 16, 2022 On December 11, 1961, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the AFL-CIO’s Fourth Constitutional Convention at the Americana Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. The speech is not long, just 30 minutes, but it’s tremendously historic, both in its content and its timing. In this speech, King connected the civil rights moveme…

Labor historian Julie Greene on why Woody Guthrie’s 1943 New Year’s resolutions still resonate today. On this week’s Labor History in Two: the year was 1968; that was the day Johnny Cash played Folsom Prison. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@…

Back in the day of publishers William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, newsboys were essential players in the circulation pipeline, cheap labor that made the highly competitive industry profitable. The newsboy became an America cultural trope or archetype, a focus of rags-to-riches fiction, the target of pity and social welfare activism, a smil…

Labor Heritage Power Hour co-host Elise Bryant talks with two young activists --Pride@Work’s Jarel Sanders and the A. Philip Randolph Institute’s Denicia Montford Williams -- about the new film “Rustin”, which tells the story of charismatic gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin. On this week’s Labor History in Two: Musicians fight back. Questions…

From the Gilded Age to the 1920s, employers and allies used terrorism to control workplaces and communities. Our colleagues at the Heartland Labor Forum radio show talk to Chad Pearson, author of Capital’s Terrorists: Klansmen, Lawmen & Employers to find out how terrorism disempowered the working class and its unions. On this week’s Labor History i…

In our first segment, Woody Guthrie Center Director Cady Shaw on the story behind Woody Guthrie’s song "1913 Massacre". Check out the video here. Then, Central Oregonizing, Radical Songbook podcast host Michael Funke’s brief history of unions at sawmills in Bend, Oregon from 1916 to 2000. Check out the video here. On this week’s Labor History in Tw…