This Week in Union History (July 13th) Posted On: Jul 13, 2015 This Week in Labor History July 13 Southern Tenant Farmers' Union organized in Tyronza, Ark. - 1934   Detroit newspaper workers begin 19-month strike against Gannett, Knight-Ridder. The strike was to become a lockout, which lasted four years more - 1995   July 14 The Great Uprising nationwide railway strike begins in Martinsburg, W.Va., after railroad workers are hit with their second pay cut in a year. In the following days, strike riots spread through 17 states. The next week, federal troops were called out to force an end to the strike - 1877   Woody Guthrie, writer of "This Land is Your Land" and "Union Maid," born in Okemah, Okla. - 1912   Italian immigrants and anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are convicted in Massachusetts of murder and payroll robbery—unfairly, most historians agree—after a 2-month trial, and are eventually executed. Fifty years after their deaths the state's governor issued a proclamation saying they had been treated unfairly and that "any disgrace should be forever removed from their names." - 1921 (Making the News: A Guide for Nonprofits and Activists: Sacco and Vanzetti made the news in a most unfortunate way.  Today, it often seems that unions are either ignored or criticized.  You can influence how your events make the news by following some of the excellent guidance offered by this easy-to-read book.)   July 15 Some 50,000 lumberjacks strike for 8-hour day - 1917   Ralph Gray, an African-American sharecropper and leader of the Share Croppers Union, is murdered in Camp Hill, Ala. - 1931   A half-million steelworkers begin what is to become a 116-day strike that shutters nearly every steel mill in the country. Management wanted to dump contract language limiting its ability to change the number of workers assigned to a task or to introduce new work rules or machinery that would result in reduced hours or fewer employees - 1959   July 16 Ten thousand workers strike Chicago's Int’l Harvester operations - 1919   Martial law declared in strike by longshoremen in Galveston, Texas - 1920   San Francisco Longshoreman's strike spreads, becomes 4-day general strike - 1934   July 17 Two ammunition ships explode at Port Chicago, Calif., killing 322, including 202 African-Americans assigned by the Navy to handle explosives. It was the worst home-front disaster of World War II. The resulting refusal of 258 African-Americans to return to the dangerous work underpinned the trial and conviction of 50 of the men in what is called the Port Chicago Mutiny - 1944   July 18 The Brotherhood of Telegraphers begins an unsuccessful 3-week strike against the Western Union Telegraph Co. - 1883   Some 35,000 Chicago stockyard workers strike - 1919   Hospital workers win 113-day union recognition strike in Charleston, S.C. - 1969   July 19 Women's Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, N.Y.  Delegates adopt a Declaration of Women's Rights and call for women's suffrage - 1848 (Public Speaking in Easy Steps: The women who spoke at the Women’s Rights Convention knew how to inspire an audience!  How about you?  For most of us, the thought of public speaking sends pulses racing and stomachs lurching.  Public Speaking In Easy Steps guides you through the process, from planning, practice and props through relaxation techniques and tried and tested tips on the day itself. Try it—you might like it!)   An amendment to the 1939 Hatch Act, a federal law whose main provision prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity, is amended to also cover state and local employees whose salaries include any federal funds - 1940 —Compiled and edited by David Prosten Copyright © 2015 Union Communication ServicesWorker Institute at Cornell ILR, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted-in, or are a current customer. Our mailing address is: Union Communication ServicesWorker Institute at Cornell ILR 36 W. Main St., Suite 440 Rochester, NY 14614