Tag Archives: Unions

1921: Beware the Ides of March

Posted on March 14, 2020 by

The National Association for the Promotion of Labor Unionism Among Negroes was founded in 1918 by A. Philip Randolph—the great union organizer who would later form the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters—and writer Chandler Owens; it was promoted through their … Continue reading →

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1937: Local 174

Posted on December 15, 2019 by

This mural showing the early history of UAW local 174 was painted by Walter Speck and Barbara Wilson in 1937 and originally hung in the local’s union hall at 2730 Maybury Grand St., in Detroit, Michigan. After moving with the … Continue reading →

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1944: The Removal of Sewell Avery

Posted on November 29, 2019 by

In 1942, in an effort to avoid strikes in war-related industries, Franklin Roosevelt reinstated the War Labor Board and directed it to oversee and arbitrate negotiations between unions and employers. Most unions had also agreed not to strike during the … Continue reading →

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1959: Capital and Labor

Posted on September 2, 2019 by

Sister Concilla sets the record straight on labor unions. Note the union bug indicating the comic was printed in a union shop.              

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1954: Zombies, Unite!

Posted on September 2, 2019 by

For Labor Day: a grave-digger’s strike leads to disasterous consequences in this 1954 story from Voodoo comics:            

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1945: With These Blows of My Hammer

Posted on May 21, 2019 by

On September 14, 1945, trade unionist Paul Bebert, a former concentration camp prisoner, destroyed the swastikas that Nazis has affixed to union offices in Hamburg. He read this statement to the crowd: With these blows of my hammer I will … Continue reading →

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1987: Basebenzi Masimanyane

Posted on May 11, 2019 by

Congress of South African Trade Unions: 1987 Calendar In 1987, COSATU conducted a two-day strike during the general elections in May as part of its Living Wage Campaign. More than 2.5 million workers took part. Later that month, their headquarters … Continue reading →

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1973: And Here As In Other Places

Posted on April 5, 2019 by

Fold-out poster of Emiliano Zapata from El Malcriado, newsletter of the United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO (May 4,1973) (source) …And here as in other places, enslaved men and women, whose consciousness has been asleep, are waking up, looking around struggling…

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1946: First They Came

Posted on March 16, 2019 by

Although this is one of the world’s most famous poems, there is no definitive version of it. Indeed, there is no clear evidence that its author, the Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller, ever put it into poetic form. Several variations exist, … Continue reading →

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1946: Fight That Man!

Posted on March 4, 2019 by

The Challenger—a tough-talking comic book hero from the 1940’s who fights fascism at home: “The man who wants to smash the unions or attack racial or religious minorities is a fascist! Never forget that, and never forget to fight that … Continue reading →

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