Today In Labor History

10 August

The Ironworkers call a national strike against the American Bridge Co., a subsidiary of the U.S. Steel Corp. When the National Erectors Association declares the following May that its members – including the American Bridge Co. – will only operate open shops, the announcement is followed by widespread violence and the dynamiting of work sites – 1905

The Air Line Pilots Association is founded at a meeting in Chicago attended by 24 activists from across the country – 1931

Transport Workers Union leader Mike Quill and four other union men, leaving a picket line at IRT headquarters in New York City, are beaten by company goons, called “breakies,” then arrested for assault. Charges against the unionists were thrown out of court – 1935

Workers at the Studebaker auto plant in South Bend, Ind. agree to take pay cuts of from $12 to $20 weekly in an attempt to help the faltering automaker. The company ultimately folded 12 years later – 1954

I.W. Abel, president of the Steel Workers Union from 1965 to 1977, dies at age 79 – 1987

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