The period in American history leading up from the Civil War to World War II was particularly violent and bloody for labor. It was through that struggle that many of the very most basic rights we enjoy today came about. These include:
- Abolition of child labor
- The eight hour day
- Unemployment insuance
- Social security
- The right to form and join unions, and bargain collectively
To give a glimpse of the background that led up to these changes, here’s a list of the major strikes that took place in the United States from after the Civil War on (courtesy of Wikipedia):
1850-1899
-
- New England Shoemakers’ Strike (1860)
- Molders’ Lockout (1866)
- Anthracite Coal Strike (1868)
- Troy New York, Collar Launderesses’ Strike (1869)
- Lynn Massachusetts, Shoe Workers’ Strike (1872)
- Tompkins Square Riot (1874) (New York.)
- Coal miners strikes of 1875
- Great Railroad Strike (1877)
- Cigarmakers’ Strike (1877)
- Cohoes New York, Cotton Mill Strike (1882)
- Cowboy Strike (1883)
- Lynchburg Virginia, Tobacco Workers’ Strike (1883)
- Molders’ Lockout (1883)
- Fall River Massachusetts, Textile Strike (1884)
- Union Pacific Railroad Strike (1884)
- Cloakmakers’ General Strike (1885)
- McCormick Harvesting Machine Company Strike (1885)
- Southwest Railroad Strike (1885)
- Yonkers New York, Carpet Weavers’ Strike (1885)
- Augusta Georgia, Textile Strike (1886)
- Cowboy Strike (1886)
- Eight-Hour Strikes (1886)
- McCormick Harvesting Machine Company Strike (1886)
- Great Southwest Railroad Strike of 1886
- Troy New York, Collar Launderesses’ Strike (1886)
- Haymarket Affair (1886)
- Bay View Tragedy (1886)
- Port of New York, Longshoremens’ Strike (1887)
- Lafourche Parish,Louisiana, Sugar Cane Workers Strike (1887)
- Burlington Railroad Strike (1888)
- Cincinnati Shoemakers’ Lockout (1888)
- Baseball Players’ Revolt (1889)
- Fall River Massachusetts, Textile Strike (1889)
- Carpenters’ Strike for the Eight-Hour Day (1890)
- Savanna Georgia, Black Laborers’ Strike (1891)
- Tennessee Miners’ Strike (1891)
- Homestead Strike (1892)
- Buffalo switchmen’s strike (1892)
- Coeur d’Alene, Idaho labor strike of 1892 (1892)
- Coxey’s Army marches on Washington D.C. (1894)
- Cripple Creek miners’ strike of 1894
- Pullman Strike (1894)
- Great Northern Railway Strike (1894)
- Bituminous Coal Miners’ Strike of 1894
- Haverhill Massachusetts Shoe Strike (1895)
- Brooklyn, New York Trolley Workers’ Strike (1895)
- Leadville Colorado, Miners’ Strike (1896)
- Lattimer Massacre Strike (1897, Pennsylvania )
- Marlboro Massachusetts, Shoe Workers’ Strike (1888)
- Buffalo New York, Grain Shovellers’ Strike (1899)
- Cleveland Ohio, Street Railway Workers’ Strike (1899)
- Coeur d’Alene, Idaho labor confrontation of 1899 (1899)
- Newsboys Strike of 1899 (New York City)
20th century
1900s
- Anthracite Coal Strike (1900)
- Machinists’ Strike (1900)
- U.S. Steel Recognition Strike of 1901
- Machinists’ Strike (1901)
- San Francisco Restaurant Workers’ Strike (1901)
- Anthracite Coal Strike (1902)
- Chicago Teamsters’ Strike (1902)
- Cripple Creek Colorado, Miners’ Strike (1902)
- Colorado Labor Wars , Western Federation of Miners (1903–1904)
- Oxnard Strike of 1903
- Utah Coal Strike (1903)
- New York City Interborough Rapid Transit Strike 1899-1904)
- Packinghouse Workers’ Strike (1904)
- Santa Fe Railroad Shopmen’s Strike (1904)
- Goldfield Nevada, Miners’ Strike (1907)
- Pensacola streetcar operators’ strike (1908, Pensacola, Florida )
- New York shirtwaist strike of 1909 “Uprising of the 20,000” (1909)
- Georgia Railroad Strike (1909)
- Pressed Steel Car Strike of 1909 ( McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania )
- Watertown Connecticut, Arsenal Strike (1909)
1910s
- 1910 New York Cloakmakers Strike , also known as “The Great Revolt” (1910)
- Westmoreland County Coal Strike of 1910-1911
- Chicago Garment Workers’ Strike of 1910-1911
- Lawrence textile strike , often known as the Bread and Roses strike (1912)
- Louisiana Timber Workers’ Strike (1912)
- West Virginia Mine War of 1912-1913
- Ludlow Massacre Strike (1913)
- Paterson silk strike (1913)
- BLE Strike in New York City (1918)
- Coal strike (1919)
- Boston Police Strike (1919)
- Steel strike of 1919
1920s
- Battle of Matewan (1920)
- Alabama Miners’ Strike (1920)
- Clothing Workers’ Lockout (1920)
- West Virginia Coal Wars (1920–21)
- Battle of Blair Mountain (1921)
- Seamen’s Strike (1921)
- Great Railroad Strike of 1922
- Herrin massacre (1922)
- Anthracite Coal Strike (1922)
- Bituminous Coal Strike (1922)
- Railroad Shopmen’s Strike (1922)
- Portland Waterfront Strikes (1922)
- Anthracite Coal Strike (1925)
- Passaic New Jersey, Textile Strike (1926)
- Bituminous Coal Strike (1927)
- Columbine Mine Massacre Strike (1927)
- New Bedford Massachusetts, Textile Strike (1928)
- Loray Mill Strike (Gastonia, North Carolina, Textile Strike) (1929)
1930s
- Imperial Valley California, Farmworkers’ Strike (1929)
- Tampa Florida, Cigar Workers’ Strike (1931)
- Battle of Evarts , Harlan County Mining Strike (1931)
- California Pea Pickers’ Strike (1932)
- Century Airlines Pilots’ Strike (1932)
- Davidson-Wiler Tennessee, Coal Strike (1932)
- Ford Hunger March Detroit Michigan (1932)
- Vacaville California, Tree Pruners’ Strike (1932)
- Briggs Manufacturing Strike (1933)
- California Farmworkers’ Strike (1933)
- Detroit Michigan Tool and Die Strike (1933)
- New Mexico Miners’ Strike (1933)
- Harlem New York, Jobs-for-Negroes-Boycott (1934)
- Kohler Strike, Sheboygan, Wisconsin (1934)
- Imperial Valley California, Farmworkers’ Strike (1934)
- Auto-Lite Strike (1934, Toledo, Ohio)
- Textile Workers’ Strike (1934)
- Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934
- Rubber Workers’ Strike (1934)
- Textile workers Strike (1934)
- 1934 West Coast Longshore Strike
- NewarkStar-Ledger Strike (1934.)
- Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri Metal workers’ strike (1935)
- Pacific Northwest Lumber Strike (1935)
- Southern Sharecroppers’ and Farm Laborers’ Strike (1935)
- Atlanta Georgia, Auto Workers’ Sit-Down Strike (1936)
- Berkshire Knitting Mills Strike (1936)
- Flint Sit-Down Strike (1936)
- RCA Strike (1936)
- Seafarer’s Strike (1936)
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer Newspaper Strike (1936)
- Rubber Workers’ Strike (1936)
- S.S. California strike (1936)
- Remington Rand strike of 1936-1937
- Flint Sit-Down Strike General Motors (1936–1937)
- Hershey Pennsylvania, Chocolate Workers’ Strike (1937)
- Memorial Day massacre of 1937 “Little Steel Strike”
- Chicago Newspaper Strike (1938)
- Maytag Strike (1938)
- Hilo Hawaii Massacre (1938)
- Chrysler Auto Strike (1939)
- General Motors Tool and Diemakers’ Strike (1939)
- Ford Motor Strike (1939)
- Disney animators’ strike (1939)
1940’s
- Allis-Chalmers Strike (1941)
- Captive Coal Miners’ Strike (1941)
- Detroit Michigan, Hate Strike against Black Workers (1941)
- International Harvester Strike (1941)
- New York City Bus Strike (1941)
- North American Aviation Strike (1941)
- 1942-43 musicians’ strike
- Bituminous Coal Strike (1943)
- Detroit Michigan, Hate Strike against Black Workers (1943)
- Detroit Michigan Race Riot (1943)
- Hollywood Black Friday
- Philadelphia Transit Strike (1944)
- Port Chicago mutiny (1944)
- Kelsey-Hayes Strike (1945)
- New York City Longshoreman’s Strike (1945)
- Montgomery Ward Strike (1945)
- Oil Workers’ Strike (1945)
- Bituminous Coal Strike (1946)
- Electrical Manufacturing Strike (1946)
- General Motors’ Strike (1946)
- Pittsburgh Power Strike (1946)
- Railroad Strike (1946)
- Steel Strike (1946)
- Hawaiian Sugar Strike (1946)
- R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Strike (1947)
- Telephone Strike (1947)
- Longshore Strike (1948)
- Hawaiian Dock Strike (1949)
1950s
- Atlanta transit strike of 1950
- “Salt of the Earth” Strike of New Mexico Miners (1950)
- 1952 steel strike (1952)
- Louisiana Sugarcane Workers’ Strike (1953)
- Kohler Strike (1954)
- UNITE Strike (1955)
- Southern Telephone Strike (1955)
- East Coast Longshoreman’s Strike (1956)
- Steel Strike (1956)
- Musicians Union strike (1958)
- Steel strike of 1959
1960s
- General Electric Strike (1960)
- Seamen’s Strike (1960)
- 1960 Writers Guild of America strike
- 1962 New York City newspaper strike (1962)
- East Coast Longshoreman’s Strike (1962)
- Delano grape strike (1965–1970)
- 1966 New York City transit strike
- St. John’s University strike of 1966-1967
- Railroad machinists’ strike of 1967
- Copper Strike (1967)
- Chrysler wildcat strike (1968)
- New York City Teacher’s Strike of 1968
- Florida statewide teachers’ strike of 1968
- Charleston, South Carolina, Hospital Workers’ Strike (1969)
- The President National Strike (1969)
1970s
- Salad Bowl strike (1970–1971)
- U.S. Postal Service strike of 1970 first U.S. nationwide strike of public employees
- General Motors Strike (1970)
- New York City Police Strike (1971)
- Longshore Strike (1971)
- Farrah Clothing Workers’ Strike and Boycott (1972)
- Lordstown Ohio, Auto Workers’ Strike (1972)
- Philadelphia Teachers’ Strike (1972)
- 1972 Major League Baseball strike
- Baltimore police strike (1974)
- 1974 UPR strike
- Bituminous Coal Strike of 1974
- Washington Post Pressmen’s Strike (1975)
- Atlanta Sanitation Workers’ Strike (1977)
- Coors Beer Strike and Boycott (1977)
- J.P. Stevens Boycott (1977)
- Willmar Minnesota, Bank Workers’ Strike (1977)
- Bituminous Coal Strike of 1977-1978
- Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania, Newspaper Strike (1978)
- Independent Truckers’ Strike (1979)
- Art Strike 1977–1980
1980s
- 1980 New York City transit strike (April 1980)
- 1980 AFTRA/Screen Actors Guild strike (summer 1980)
- Air traffic controllers’ strike/Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1981)
- 1981 Writers Guild of America strike
- 1981 Major League Baseball strike
- Arizona Copper Mine Strike of 1983 (1983)
- Yale University Clerical Workers’ Strike (1984)
- Hormel Meatpackers’ Strike (1985)
- Los Angeles County Sanitary Workers’ Strike (1985)
- Yale University Clerical Workers’ Strike (1985)
- Chicago Tribune Strike (1986)
- Trans World Airlines Flight Attendants’ Strike (1986)
- United States Steel Lockout (1986)
- Major Indoor Soccer League Lockout two-week lockout (1986)
- International Paper strike (1987)
- Professional Football Players’ Strike (1987)
- 1988 Writers Guild of America strike
- Eastern Airline Workers’ Strike (1989)
- Bell Atlantic Strike (August 1989)
- Nynex Strike (August 1989) Lasted 4 months.
- Pittston Coal strike (1989–90)
1990s
- Art Strike 1990–1993
- 1992 NHL players’ strike
- Timex strike (1993)
- 1994 Major League Baseball strike
- Detroit Newspaper Strike (13 July 1995—14 February 1997)
- 1997 UPS Strike
21st century
- Verizon Strike (August 2000)
- Jeffboat wildcat strike (2001)
- Actors Strike 2001
- University of California strikes (2003)
- 2003 Broadway Musicians Strike
- Southern California Supermarket strike of 2003-2004
- 2004–05 NHL lockout
- 2005 New York City transit strike
- 2006 USW Strike
- 2006 AK Steel Strike
- University of Miami 2006 custodial workers’ strike
- 2007 Freightliner wildcat strike
- 2007 Orange County transit strike
- Hayward teachers strike (2007)
- 2007 General Motors strike
- 2007 Chrysler Autoworkers strike
- 2007 United Space Alliance strike ]
- 2007 Broadway Stagehand Strike
- SEMCO Energy Gas Company Strike (2007)
- 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike
- 2008 University of California strike
- 2008 American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. strike
- 2008 Sundance Kabuki Cinema Sex in the City strike
- Boeing Machinists Strike of 2008
- 2009 Lindsey Oil Refinery strikes