On This Day in Labor History
Submitted by Diane Mandell
By studying the past, we may improve the future.
May 1, 1926:
Ford Motor Company adopts a 5-day, 40-hour work week policy for its automotive factory workers. The following August, Ford Motor office workers were also included in the Monday through Friday work week. The result was increased productivity, company loyalty and worker pride. Workers were expected to produce more during the shortened hours. The shortened work week soon became standard practice in manufacturing across the world.
May 1 – 5, 1886:
Bay View Massacre (aka Bay View Tragedy). The Bay View Massacre refers to a culmination of events occurring between May 1st and May 5th, 1886. Milwaukee Iron Company (aka Bay View Rolling Mill), located in Bay View, WI, opened in 1868 and was the first major Milwaukee area factory. Workers there worked 10-hour days, six days per week for $0.90 to $1.15 per day. By 1885, the company employed over 1500 workers.
The Federation of Organized Trades & Labor Unions spent two years urging all U.S. employers to adopt eight-hour work days. Any workers not on the eight-hour system were encouraged to strike on May 1, 1886 in a nationwide action. Milwaukee had already adopted the eight-hour law, but there were no penalties in place for employers in non-compliance.
On May 1, 1886, there were over 1600 rallies of striking workers and supporters across the nation. In Milwaukee, peaceful rallies prevailed as striking workers consisting of workers of mostly Polish, German, and native American descent shut down factories one-by-one during the first five days of May, 1886. Even the news of the Haymarket Square Riot in Chicago did not incite the crowd to violence. On May 5, 1886, demonstrators who were congregated at the Bay View Rolling Mill and numbered more than 14,000 were attacked by 250 National Guardsmen ordered “to shoot to kill” anyone who tried to gain access to the factory. At least five people were killed including a young boy. Two Poles were never identified.
Wisconsin Governor Jeremiah Rusk who ordered the National Guardsmen attack received accolades as a national hero by some media. On May 6, 1886 labor groups met with the governor who refused to remove the militia until the strike ended and workers went back to working the 10-hour days. On May 9, 1886, the Milwaukee Journal reported that the Edward P. Allis Reliant Steel Works was firing all Polish workers because Polish were “too radical”. Other Milwaukee companies followed suit and for a time no Pole could find work in Milwaukee.
The governor finally ordered the National Guard out of Milwaukee on May 13, 1886.
May 3, 1886:
Haymarket Square Strike, Chicago IL. An unprovoked attack by police left a couple of people dead and others injured when police fired into a crowd of workers striking at McCormick Reaper Works.
May 4, 1886:
Haymarket Square Riot, Chicago, IL. In spite of the violence of the previous day, a crowd of over 1500 protesters, mainly German-Americans, were peacefully listening to speakers advocating mandatory 8-hour work days. As the rally was winding down, police began to forcibly disperse the crowd. A bomb of unknown origin was thrown into the crowd, after which police began firing, inciting a riot. Over 60 police were injured and eight killed with many protesters also injured.
Although the public was led to believe that the deaths were caused by the bomb, seven of the eight deaths were known to have been caused by police shooting each other in the confusion.
Despite a lack of evidence linking the protesters to the bomb, authorities were able to feed on the public’s xenophobia and prosecute eight protesters. Seven of the eight were sentenced to death. On November 11, 1887, four of the eight were hanged. A fifth, scheduled for execution, committed suicide. Illinois governor, John Atgeld, pardoned the remaining three survivors in 1893 after they had served seven years in prison.
May 4, 1970:
Four anti-war protesters were killed by the National Guard at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.
May 6, 1933:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order to create Works Progress Administration (WPA). One of many Great Depression relief programs, the WPA put 3 million unemployed men into jobs building highways, schools, playgrounds, hospitals and airports. The WPA also employed artists, actors and writers on federally sponsored plays, public murals and literary publications. Wage and price controls on the federally funded products and services safeguarded the WPA projects from competition from the private sector.
May 9, 1914:
President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation to officially establish the Mother’s Day holiday as the second Sunday of every May in recognition of mothers’ labor.
May 13, 1980:
Chrysler Corporation stockholders voted United Automobile Workers (UAW) president, Douglas Fraser, to one of twenty seats on the company’s board of directors, making Fraser the first union representative ever to sit on the board of a major U.S. company, after he was nominated by Chrysler CEO, Lee Iacocca.
Fraser had been a key player in obtaining the $1.5 billion bailout from the U.S. government, negotiating a $3.00/hour pay cut for hourly workers (down to $17.00/hour) and laying off nearly 50,000 U.S. workers.
Although some saw the subsequent Chrysler turnaround and 1984 record profits of $2.4 billion as justification for Fraser’s compromises, some critics saw Fraser’s actions as opening the door to similar bargaining concessions across U.S. industries.
May 29, 1848:
Wisconsin entered the Union as the 30th state. Wisconsin citizens had previously voted against statehood four times, fearing the higher taxes that would come with a stronger central government. However, the vote passed the 5th time when Wisconsin voters decided they wanted a piece of the prosperity brought to neighboring states by federal programs.