02 September

Rioters attack, set fire to Chinese section of Rock Springs, Wyo., kill 28 Chinese miners, wound 15. The “Rock Springs Massacre” resulted from mounting anti-Chinese sentiment over their role as cheap labor and as strikebreakers. Sixteen white suspects were arrested, tried and acquitted – 1885

Operating railway employees win 8 hour day – 1916

Mineowners bomb striking West Virginia coal miners by plane, yet another owner outrage in what was to become known as The Battle of Blaire Mountain. A cease fire was declared the next day – 1921

Macbeth Mine explodes, kills 10 workers at the Hutchinson Coal Co. mine in Logan County, W. Va. Six months later 18 more miners were killed in another explosion – 1936

As female flight attendants testify before a House Labor committee about age discrimination, Rep. James H. Scheuer (D-NY) asks the attendants to “stand up, so we can see the dimensions of the problem.” The airlines were firing most attendants by age 35 because management saw them as no longer attractive – 1965

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was signed by President Ford, regulating and insuring pensions and other benefits, and increasing protections for workers – 1974