Important Years In American Labor History -- 1900 to 1949

1900 -- Founding of the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union.

1901 -- Five month strike against U.S. Steel fails; union is weakened.

1902 -- Hatters' strike in Danbury, Connecticut.

1904 -- District Number 44 of the International Association of Machinists, (AFL) is established to handle affairs related to federal employees.

1911 -- Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in New York City kills 147 workers and reveals the terrible conditions in the garment industry.

1912 -- The Lloyd-La Follette Act is adopted, recognizing the right of federal employees to organize.

1913 -- Congress establishes the Department of Labor.

1914 -- The Clayton Anti-Trust Act strengthens the position of American unions.

1916 -- Child Labor Law is passed by Congress.

1916 -- The Federal Employees' Compensation Law is adopted.

1917 -- Members of the Railway Mail Association vote to become a part of the American Federation of Labor.

1920 -- The original Retirement Act providing annuities for federal employees based on amount of salary and length of service is adopted.

1923 -- The Classification Act, establishing white collar government employee pay scales, is adopted.

1924 -- Samuel Gompers dies.

1924 -- The Kiess Act is adopted establishing collective bargaining for printing trades employees in the Government Printing Office.

1932 -- Norris-LaGuardia Act is passed. The Act establishes the rights of workers to organize into unions.

1932 -- The American Federation of Government Employees is chartered by the American Federation of Labor because of the disaffiliation of the National Federation of Federal Employees. AFGE starts with 562 members. The Charter Convention is held on October 17, 1932 with forty two delegates in attendance.

1934 -- Adoption of the Thomas Amendment which establishes a forty-hour work week for wage board employees and makes provision for overtime for work in excess of forty-two hours.

1935 -- National Labor Relations Act, (Wagner Act) is passed. The Act guarantees collective bargaining.

1935 -- The Committee, (later renamed to "Congress") for Industrial Organization, (the CIO) is formed under the leadership of John L. Lewis.

1936 -- Laws are adopted providing federal workers with twenty six days annual and fifteen days sick leave.

1937 -- The United Automobile Workers Union, (UAW) stages successful sit-down strikes at General Motors and Chrysler plants. Ten striking workers are killed by police in South Chicago, Illinois.

1938 -- The Fair Labor Standards Act is passed. The Act establishes the first minimum wage.

1939 -- The Hatch Act is adopted limiting federal employees' political activity.

1940 -- John L. Lewis resigns as CIO President.

1947 -- Taft-Hartley Act is passed. The Act serves to limit the power and influence of labor unions. The Act makes it unlawful for government employees to participate in any strike.

1949 -- CIO begins the process of expelling unions controlled by communists.

1949 -- The Classification Act of 1923 is repealed. A new Act is adopted extensively revising the classification law.

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