Labor’s Timeline
The history of the Labor Movement can be summed up as the history of struggle...
the struggle of workers to improve their lives in the face of an oft-times crushing
opposition by those who feared workers having power and having a voice.
Efforts to destroy unions and subordinate workers - efforts to diminish the power of
workers acting in concert for their betterment - have existed from the very beginning. And they continue today.
The story of that struggle - the victories and the setbacks - is presented in these pages and in this timeline. And the words of Eugene Debs remain as true and vital today as when they were spoken in 1894:
“Ten thousand times has the labor movement stumbled and bruised itself. We have been enjoined by the courts, assaulted by thugs, charged by the militia, traduced by the press, frowned upon in public opinion, and deceived by politicians. But notwithstanding all this and all these, labor is today the most vital and potential power this planet has ever known, and its historic mission is as certain of ultimate realization as is the setting of the sun.”
click on the clock as you move through the timeline to return to this page