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1607
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English planters found Jamestown colony and complain about lack of laborers
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1619
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Slaves from Africa first imported to colonies
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1664
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First slavery codes begin trend of making African servants slaves for life
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1676
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Bacon’s Rebellion of servants and slaves in Virginia
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1677
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First recorded prosecution against strikers in New York City
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1765
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Artisans and laborers in Sons of Liberty protest oppressive British taxes
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1770
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British troops kill five dock workers in Boston Massacre
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1773
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Laborers protest royal taxation in the Boston tea Party
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1775
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American Revolution begins
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1786
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Philadelphia printers conduct first successful strike for increased wages
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1787
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Constitution adopted
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1791
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First strike in building trades by Philadelphia carpenters for a 10-hour day bill of Rights adopted
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1800
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Gabriel Prosser’s slave insurrection in Virginia
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1805
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Philadelphia shoemakers found guilty of conspiracy
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1808
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Slave importation prohibited
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1834
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First turnout of “mill girls” in Lowell, Mass., to protect wage cuts
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1835
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General strike for 10-hour day in Philadelphia
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1842
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Commonwealth v. Hunt decision frees unions from some prosecutions
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1843
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Lowell Female Labor Reform Association begins public petitioning for 10-hour day
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1847
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New Hamsphire enacts first state 10-hour-day law
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1848
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Seneca Falls women’s rights convention
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1860
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Great shoemaker’s strike in New England
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1861
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Abraham Lincoln takes office as president and Civil War begins
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1863
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President Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation
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1865
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13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishes slavery
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1866
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National Labor Union founded
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1867
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Congress begins reconstruction policy in former slave states
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1869
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Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor and Colored National Labor Union formed
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1870
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15th Amendment to the Constitution adopted; states the right to vote may not be abrogated by color
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1877
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National uprising of railroad workers Ten Irish coal miners ("Molly Maguires") hanged in Pennsylvania; nine more subsequently were hanged
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1881
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Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions formed
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1882
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First Labor Day parade in New York City
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1885
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Successful strike by Knights of Labor on the Southwest (or Gould) System: the Missouri Pacific; the Missouri, Kansas and Texas; and the Wabash
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1886
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American Federation of Labor founded
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1887
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Seven "anarchists" charged with the bombing in Chicago's Haymarket Square and sentenced to death
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1890
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Carpenters President P.J. McGuire and the union strike and win the eight-hour day for some 28,000 members
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1892
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Iron and steel workers union defeated in lockout at Homestead, Pa. Integreated general strike in New Orleans succeeds
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1894
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Boycott of Pullman sleeping cars leads to general strike on railroads
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| 1898
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Erdman Act prohibits discrimination against railroad workers because of union membership and provides for mediation of railway labor disputes
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1900
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AFL and National Civic Federation promote trade agreements with employers U.S. Industrial Commission declares trade unions good for democracy.
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1902
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Anthracite strike arbitrated after President Theodore Roosevelt intervenes
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1903
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Women’s Trade Union League formed at AFL convention
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1905
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Industrial Workers of the World founded
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1908
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AFL endorses Democrat William Jennings Bryan for President
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1909
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“Uprising of the 20,000” female shirtwaist makers in New York strike against sweatshop conditions Unorganized immigrant steel workers strike in McKees Rocks, Pa. And win all demand
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1911
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Triangle Shirtwaist factory in fire in New York kills nearly 150 workers
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1912
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Bread and Roses strike begun by immigrant women in Lawrence, Mass., ended with 23,000 men and women and children on strike and with as many as 20,000 on the picket line Bill creating Department of Labor passes at the end of congressional session
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1913
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Woodrow Wilson takes office as president and appoints the first secretary of labor, William B. Wilson of the Mine Workers
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1914
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Ludlow Massacre of 13 women and children and seven men in Colorado coal miners’ strike
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1917
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United States enters World War I
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1918
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Leadership of Industrial Workers of the World sentenced to federal prison oncharges of disloyalty to the United States
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1919
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One of every five workers walked out in great strike wave, including national clothing coal and steel strikes; a general strike in Seattle; and a police strike in Boston International Labor Organization founded in France
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1920
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19th Amendment to the Constitution gives women the right to vote
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1924
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Samuel Gompers dies; William Green becomes new AFL president
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1925
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A. Philip Randolph helps create the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
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1926
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Railway Labor Act sets up procedures to settle railway labor disputes and forbids discrimination against union members
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1929
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Stock market crashes as stocks fall 40 percent; Great Depression begins
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1931
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Davis-Bacon Act provides for prevailing wages on publicly funded construction projects
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1932
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Norris-LaGuardia Act prohibits federal injunctions in most labor disputes
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1933
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President Franklin Roosevelt proposes New Deal programs to Congress
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1934
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Upsurge in strikes, including national textile strike, which fails
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|
1935
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National Labor Relations Act and Social Security Act passed Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) formed within AFL
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1936
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AFL and CIO create labor's Non-Partisan League and help President Roosevelt win re-election to a second term
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|
1937
|
Auto Workers win sit-down strike against General Motors in Flint, Mich. Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters wins contract with Pullman Co.
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1938
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Fair Labor Standards Act establishes first minimum wage and 40-hour week Congress of industrial Organizations forms as an independent federation
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|
1940
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John L. Lewis resigns and Philip Murray becomes CIO president
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|
1941
|
A. Philip Randolph threatens march on Washington to pretest racial discimination in defense jobs
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|
1941
|
U.S. troops enter combat in World Wal II National War Labor Board created with union members
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|
1943
|
CIO forms first political action committee to get out the union vote for President Roosevelt
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|
1946
|
Largest strike wave in U.S. history
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|
1947
|
Taft-Hartley Act restricts union members' activities
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|
1949
|
First two of 11 unions with Communist leaders are purged from CIO
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|
1952
|
William Green and Philip Murray die; George Meany and Walter Reuther become presidents of AFL and CIO, respectively
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|
1955
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AFL and CIO merge; George Meany becomes president
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|
1957
|
AFL-CIO expels two affiliates for corruption
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|
1959
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Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (Landrum-Griffin) passed
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|
1962
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President John Kennedy's order gives federal workers the right to bargain
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1963
|
March on Washington for jobs and Justice Equal Pay Act bans wage discrimination based on gender
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|
1964
|
Civil Rights Act bans institutional forms of racial discrimination
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1965
|
AFL-CIO forms A. Philip Randolph Institute César Chávez forms AFL-CIO United Farm Workers Organizing Committee
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1968
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., during sanitation workers' strike
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|
1970
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Occupational Safety and Health Act passed
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|
1972
|
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists formed
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1973
|
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement founded
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1974
|
Coalition of Labor Union Women founded
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|
1979
|
Lane Kirkland elected president of AFL-CIO
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|
1981
|
President Reagan breaks air traffic controllers’s strike AFL-CIO rallies 400,000 in Washington on Solidarity Day
|
|
1989
|
Organizing Institute created
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|
1990
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United Mine Workers of America win strike against Pittston Coal United Steelworkers of America labor Alliance created within the AFL-CIO
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|
1992
|
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance created within AFL-CIO
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|
1995
|
Thomas Donahue replaces Lane Kirkland as interim had of AFL-CIO (BULLEG) John Sweeney president of AFL-CIO
|
|
1997
|
AFL-CIO defeats legislation giving the president the ability to “Fast Track’ trade legislation without assured protection of workers’ rights and the environment
|
|
1997
|
Pride at Work, a national coalition of lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender workers and their supporters, becomes an AFL-CIO constituency group AFL-CIO membership renewed growth
|
|
1999
|
More than 75,000 human service workers are unionized in Los Angeles County 30,000 to 50,000 working family activists take to Seattle streets to tell the World Trade Organization and its allies, “If the Global Economy Doesn’t Work for Working Families, It Doesn’t Work” 5,000 North Carolina textile workers gain a union after a 25-year struggle 65,000 Puerto Rico public-sector workers join unions Broad Campaign for Global Fairness pushes for economic and social justice worldwide Union movement organizes biggest program of grassroots electoral politics ever
|
|
2000
|
-
(February)
AFL-CIO Executive Council calls for reform in the nation’s immigration laws for undocumented workers.
-
(March)
Women now are two-thirds of new union members in the U.S.
-
(April)
30,000 union members and activists rally against the United States granting permanent normal trade relations with China.
-
(June)
4,200 technical and administrative employees of Boeing in Kansas join the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA).
-
(November)
Unions lead a massive grassroots get-out-the-vote effort, with 100,000 volunteers distributing more than 14 million leaflets at union worksites and calling 8 million union members—ultimately more than 26 million voters in union households went to the polls.
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|
2001
|
-
(April)
40,000 union activists and allies protest the Free Trade Area of the Americas in Quebec City, Canada, the largest anti-globalization mobilization to date.
-
(May)
AFL-CIO launches Alliance for Retired Americans to recruit activists and mobilize older Americans.
-
(September)
Thousands of union members sacrifice their lives and health, and volunteer their time to respond to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C.
Labor unions join with community allies to enact “living wage” ordinances in 76 communities across the nation.
|
|
2002
|
-
(May)
The AFL-CIO forms the Industrial Union Council (IUC) to revitalize manufacturing, combat destructive international trade agreements, and defend workers’ rights.
-
(July)
President Bush pledges to strip collective bargaining rights from 170,000 civil servants in the new Transportation Security Administration and denies bargaining rights to airport-security screening personnel.
|
|
2003
|
-
(January)
The AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department launches the Helmets to Hardhats program to connect National Guard, Reserve and transitioning active-duty military members with quality career training and employment opportunities in construction.
-
(July)
The AFL-CIO holds a nationally televised Working Families Presidential Forum in which all nine Democratic Presidential candidates take part.
-
(August)
The AFL-CIO establishes Working America to reach out to non-union members and mobilize workers through door-to-door canvassing in neighborhoods.
-
(November)
The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. George Miller and in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Edward Kennedy.
-
(December)
American Rights at Work, a national non-profit advocacy group, is founded to promote the freedom of workers to join unions and bargain collectively.
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|
2004
|
-
(March)
The National Labor College (NLC) receives full accreditation from the Middle State Higher Education Commission, enabling it to grant bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
-
(June)
The Coalition for Labor Union Women (CLUW) celebrates its 30th anniversary.
-
(November)
As part of the election year get-out-the-vote effort, some 225,000 union volunteers knock on millions of doors, make 10 million phone calls, and distribute 32 million leaflets.
|
|
2005
|
-
(April)
The Employee Free Choice Act is reintroduced into the U.S. Congress as bipartisan legislation, winning support from 182 House members and 37 Senate co-sponsors by June 2005.
-
(September)
Change to Win holds its founding convention in St. Louis, created among seven unions previously members of the AFL-CIO.
|
|
2006
|
-
(August)
The AFL-CIO and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) form a partnership to collaborate with local worker centers on immigration reform and other issues.
-
(November)
During the 2006 elections, 205,000 union volunteers knock on millions of union members’ doors, make 30 million telephone calls in 32 targeted states and distribute 14 million leaflets in workplaces, with Democrats ultimately winning a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and achieving a 51-vote progressive majority in the U.S. Senate.
-
(December)
The AFL-CIO and the Interfaith Worker Justice (IWG) board establish a new partnership to strengthen labor-religious ties and advance the core principles of social justice in the workplace.
The United Steelworkers Union (USW) and the Sierra Club launch the Blue Green Alliance, a labor-environmental coalition to expand the number and quality of jobs in the clean energy economy.
|
|
2007
|
-
(March)
The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Employee Free Choice Act with a vote of 241-185.
-
(June)
Republicans in the U.S. Senate block consideration of the Employee Free Choice Act.
-
(August)
The AFL-CIO holds a presidential debate at Soldier Field in Chicago where 18,000 union members and their families turn out to see seven Democratic candidates debate.
-
(September)
Following the retirement of Linda Chavez-Thompson, the AFL-CIO Executive Council unanimously elects Arlene Holt Baker as AFL-CIO Executive Vice President.
-
(December)
The Industrial Union Council led a delegation of 21 North American union leaders to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC) in Bali, Indonesia.
|
|
2008
|
-
(June)
The AFL-CIO endorses Sen. Barack Obama for U.S. President.
-
(July)
The United Steel Workers union (USW) joins with unions in Britain, Ireland, Canada, and the Caribbean to form the global union, Workers Uniting.
-
(July)
Appearing at a steelworkers convention, then AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka delivers a widely acclaimed speech that directly addresses the issue of racism in the 2008 election.
-
(July)
The AFL-CIO establishes the Union Veterans Council.
-
(November)
During the 2008 Presidential elections, the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions mobilize 250,000 volunteers who made 76 million telephone calls and knocked on 14 million doors, sent out 57 million pieces of mail and distributed 29 million leaflets at worksites.
|
|
2009
|
-
(January)
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that union density in the U.S. had grown over the previous two years, with a net gain of 759,000 members in 2007 and 2008.
-
(January)
Shortly after his inauguration, President Obama signs the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which restored the rights of working women to sue over pay discrimination.
-
(February)
Union members and allies deliver some of the 1.5 million signatures collected in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.
-
(May)
The AFL-CIO Working for America Institute creates the Center for Green Jobs to assist affiliates in applying for millions of dollars in grants in clean energy skill training projects.
-
(September)
At the AFL-CIO’s 26th Constitutional Convention in Pittsburgh, Richard Trumka is elected president; Liz Shuler, a union activist from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, is elected as Secretary-Treasurer and Arlene Hold Baker re-elected as Executive Vice President.
-
(September)
UNITE HERE leaves Change to Win and rejoins the AFL-CIO.
|
|
2010
|
-
(June)
The AFL-CIO hosts the “Next Up” Young Workers Summit in Washington, D.C., and establishes a national youth mobilization effort as a top priority.
-
(October)
The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) leaves Change to Win and rejoins the AFL-CIO.
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