A comprehensive nationwide legal defense network was established to provide coordinated legal support across multiple jurisdictions. The Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network, formed by labor unions and civil rights organizations, mobilized over 1,000 lawyers in 42 states to offer pro bono …
National Legal Defense ConsortiumState-Level Legal Aid OrganizationsCivil Rights AttorneysAFL-CIODemocracy Forward+3 morelegal-infrastructurecivil-rights-defensemulti-jurisdictional-supportlabor-rightsfederal-workers-protection
The U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon granted the Federal Trade Commission’s request for a preliminary injunction to prevent Kroger from acquiring Albertsons on December 10, 2024, blocking the largest proposed supermarket merger in U.S. history. The FTC had sued to block the $24.6 …
Federal Trade CommissionKroger CompanyAlbertsons CompaniesJudge Nelsonantitrustftckrogeralbertsonsmerger-enforcement+2 more
The National Labor Relations Board rules that mandatory captive audience meetings—where employers force workers to attend anti-union presentations under threat of termination—violate the National Labor Relations Act as illegal employer coercion. The Biden-era NLRB finds that compelling workers to …
National Labor Relations BoardBiden AdministrationWorkersUnion organizerslabor-rightsnlrbcaptive-audienceemployer-coercionregulatory-action
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, joined by the Business Roundtable, the Texas Association of Business, and the Longview Chamber of Commerce, filed a lawsuit in Tyler, Texas federal court against the FTC and Chair Lina Khan over the commission’s vote to ban noncompete clauses used to block …
U.S. Chamber of CommerceFederal Trade CommissionLina KhanBusiness Roundtableantitrustftcchamber-of-commercecorporate-lobbyinglabor-rights+2 more
Amazon Refuses to Negotiate with JFK8 Union After NLRB Certification - Stalls Contract for Over a Year
On January 11, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board officially certified the Amazon Labor Union’s historic April 2022 election victory at the Staten Island JFK8 facility, formally …
Amazon Defeats Second Staten Island Union Vote at LDJ5 Facility 618 to 380
On May 2, 2022, workers at Amazon’s LDJ5 sorting facility on Staten Island voted 618 to 380 against joining the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), delivering a significant defeat to the upstart union just one month after its …
AmazonChristian SmallsAmazon Labor Unionunion organizingworker exploitationamazonlabor rights
Amazon Injury Rate Double Warehouse Industry Average - 6.8 Per 100 Workers
On April 12, 2022, the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC)—a coalition of four major labor unions—released a comprehensive report analyzing Amazon’s worker injury rates using federal OSHA data. The report revealed that …
Amazon JFK8 Workers Vote to Form Company’s First U.S. Union in Historic Victory
On April 1, 2022, workers at Amazon’s massive JFK8 fulfillment center on Staten Island voted 2,654 to 2,131 to form the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), creating the first unionized Amazon facility in the United …
Jeff BezosAmazonChristian SmallsAmazon Labor Unionunion organizingworker exploitationamazonlabor rightscorporate accountability
Six Amazon Workers Killed in Edwardsville Warehouse Tornado Collapse
On December 10, 2021, an EF-3 tornado struck Amazon’s DLI4 delivery facility in Edwardsville, Illinois, causing catastrophic structural damage that killed six workers: Deandre S. Morrow (28), Kevin D. Dickey (62), Clayton …
Jeff BezosAmazonworker exploitationcorporate accountabilityamazonworker deathlabor rights
NLRB Hearing Officer Rules Amazon Illegally Interfered in Bessemer Election, Recommends New Vote
On August 2, 2021, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) hearing officer issued a recommendation finding that Amazon had illegally interfered in the April 2021 union election at its Bessemer, Alabama …
National Labor Relations BoardAmazonRetail, Wholesale and Department Store Unionunion organizingworker exploitationamazonlabor rightscorporate accountability+1 more
Amazon Defeats Bessemer Union Vote 1,798 to 738 After Intensive Anti-Union Campaign
On April 9, 2021, vote counting concluded in the historic union election at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama warehouse (BHM1), with workers decisively rejecting unionization by a margin of 1,798 votes against to 738 …
Jeff BezosAmazonRetail, Wholesale and Department Store Unionunion organizingworker exploitationamazonlabor rightscorporate accountability
Amazon Warehouse Worker Billy Foister Dies on Warehouse Floor After Heart Attack
On September 2, 2019, Billy Foister, a 48-year-old Amazon warehouse worker, suffered a fatal heart attack at the Amazon fulfillment center in Etna, Ohio. According to his brother and coworkers, Foister lay on the …
Jeff BezosAmazonBilly Foisterworker exploitationcorporate accountabilityamazonworker deathlabor rights
Amazon Raises Minimum Wage to $15 But Eliminates Bonuses and Stock Options
On October 2, 2018, one month after Bernie Sanders introduced the “Stop BEZOS Act,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced the company would raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour for all U.S. employees, effective …
Jeff BezosAmazonworker exploitationcorporate accountabilityamazonlabor rights
On September 5, 2018, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the “Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act”—the “Stop BEZOS Act”—legislation designed to force large corporations like Amazon …
Bernie SandersJeff BezosAmazonRo Khannaworker exploitationcorporate accountabilityamazonpolitical responselabor rights
The Financial Oversight and Management Board unanimously approved a brutal 10-year fiscal austerity plan (2017-2026) developed with McKinsey’s strategic consulting, imposing severe cuts to pensions, education, and healthcare to prioritize debt repayment to bondholders. The plan’s key …
McKinsey & CompanyFinancial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto RicoPuerto Rico GovernmentRafael Torregrosamckinseypuerto-ricoausterityshock-doctrinepension-theft+5 more
On May 6, 2015, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed House Bill 1749 into law, prohibiting state agencies from making payroll deductions for membership dues to public employee associations that engage in collective bargaining. The legislation, which took effect November 1, 2015, specifically …
Governor Mary FallinOklahoma LegislatureOklahoma Education AssociationAmerican Federation of Teachers OklahomaRepresentative Tom Newell+1 moreunion-bustingteachers-unionsaleclabor-rightscollective-bargaining+1 more
Amazon Workers in Germany Strike During Black Friday for Union Recognition
In November 2014, Amazon workers in Germany organized by the Ver.di union launched strikes during Black Friday, one of Amazon’s most profitable shopping periods, as part of an escalating labor dispute that had begun in …
Jeff BezosAmazonVer.di Unionworker exploitationlabor rightsunion organizingamazoninternational
Amazon Lehigh Valley Warehouse Heat Exhaustion Scandal Exposed
On September 18, 2011, The Morning Call newspaper published a landmark investigation exposing brutal working conditions at Amazon’s warehouse in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania (Lehigh Valley). The investigation revealed that during …
Jeff BezosAmazonworker exploitationcorporate accountabilitylabor rightsamazon
President Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act into law on October 24, 1978, marking the first time in U.S. history that an industry was deregulated and removing federal control over airline fares, routes, and market entry. In 1977, Carter had appointed Cornell economics professor Alfred …
Jimmy CarterAlfred KahnEdward KennedyStephen Breyerderegulationneoliberalismlabor-rightscorporate-consolidation
President Gerald Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) into law on September 2, 1974, Labor Day, following near-unanimous passage in Congress (85-0 in the Senate, with only two House representatives opposed). The legislation responded to catastrophic pension failures like …
The Bracero Program officially ends on December 31, 1964, after labor and civil rights reformers successfully pressure Congress to terminate the 22-year guest worker system. The program’s conclusion comes as mechanization increases in agriculture and mounting evidence exposes systematic …
U.S. CongressUnited Farm WorkersLabor reformersCivil rights organizationsimmigration-policylabor-rightswage-suppressionunion-organizingcorporate-accountability
On August 28, 1963, approximately 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the largest demonstration for civil rights in American history to that point. Organized by Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph, the march built an alliance of civil …
Martin Luther King Jr.Bayard RustinA. Philip RandolphJohn F. KennedyMahalia Jacksoncivil-rightsnonviolent-resistancedemocratic-participationinstitutional-racismlabor-rights
President John F. Kennedy issues Executive Order 10988 granting federal employees the right to collective bargaining for the first time in U.S. history, catalyzing explosive growth in public sector unionization that transforms the American labor movement. Following Kennedy’s executive action, …
John F. KennedyAmerican Federation of State County and Municipal EmployeesFederal employeesJerry Wurflabor-rightspublic-sector-unionsexecutive-ordercollective-bargainingafscme+1 more
After World War II, as worker militancy swept the country, the right-wing struck back with the Taft-Hartley Act, passed by a Republican Congress over President Truman’s veto on June 23, 1947. The bill used the threat of communist subversion to justify rolling back advantages labor had gained …
Robert A. TaftFred A. HartleyCIOAFLCPUSAlabor-rightsred-scareinstitutional-capturecorporate-powerunion-busting
On February 27, 1939, the Supreme Court rules 6-2 in NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corporation that workers who engage in sit-down strikes—occupying employer property—lose the protections of the National Labor Relations Act and can be lawfully discharged even when the employer has committed unfair …
Supreme Court of the United StatesNational Labor Relations BoardFansteel Metallurgical Corporationorganized laborcorporate employerslabor-rightssupreme-courtsit-down-strikeswagner-actunion-rights
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) on June 25, 1938, establishing a federal minimum wage of 25 cents per hour, a maximum 44-hour workweek, and banning oppressive child labor—but only after more than a year of fierce congressional opposition from business …
Franklin D. RooseveltFrances PerkinsHugo BlackU.S. CongressSouthern Democrats+1 morelabor-rightsminimum-wagechild-labornew-dealcorporate-resistance
The “Little Steel” strike begins on May 26, 1937, when 75,000 steelworkers walk off their jobs at Republic Steel, Bethlehem Steel, Youngstown Sheet and Tube, and Inland Steel after these companies refuse to sign contracts with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) despite the …
Republic SteelTom GirdlerBethlehem SteelYoungstown Sheet and TubeInland Steel+3 morelabor-rightscorporate-resistancewagner-actstrikeunion-organizing+1 more
On Memorial Day, May 30, 1937, Chicago police open fire on peaceful union demonstrators outside Republic Steel Corporation’s South Chicago plant, killing ten people and wounding more than ninety in what becomes known as the Memorial Day Massacre. The police use tear gas, firearms, and clubs …
On May 26, 1937, at approximately 2:00 p.m., Ford Motor Company orchestrates a brutal assault on United Auto Workers organizers conducting a permitted leaflet distribution campaign at the Miller Road pedestrian overpass above Gate 4 of the massive River Rouge Plant complex in Dearborn, Michigan. UAW …
Ford Motor CompanyHarry BennettFord Service DepartmentUnited Auto WorkersWalter Reuther+3 morelabor-rightscorporate-violenceuawfordunion-busting+2 more
On April 12, 1937, the Supreme Court rules 5-4 in NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation to uphold the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act), reversing years of judicial hostility to federal labor regulation and fundamentally expanding Congress’s commerce …
Supreme Court of the United StatesCharles Evans HughesOwen RobertsFranklin D. RooseveltJones & Laughlin Steel Corporation+1 moresupreme-courtlabor-rightswagner-actconstitutional-lawnew-deal+1 more
On March 29, 1937, the Supreme Court rules 5-4 in West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish to uphold Washington State’s minimum wage law for women, explicitly overruling its 1923 Adkins v. Children’s Hospital precedent and marking the beginning of the “Constitutional Revolution of …
Supreme Court of the United StatesOwen RobertsCharles Evans HughesFranklin D. RooseveltElsie Parrishsupreme-courtminimum-wageconstitutional-lawnew-dealswitch-in-time+1 more
On February 11, 1937, General Motors—the world’s largest industrial corporation—capitulates to the UAW after 44 days of sit-down strikes, signing a one-page agreement that recognizes the United Auto Workers as exclusive bargaining representative for union members for six months and …
United Auto WorkersGeneral MotorsAlfred Sloan Jr.William KnudsenFisher Body workers+2 morelabor-rightsstrikessit-down-strikesuawgeneral-motors+2 more
On January 11, 1937, Flint police and General Motors security forces launch a violent assault on UAW strikers occupying Fisher Body Plant Number 2, attacking with tear gas canisters and live ammunition in an attempt to break the 12-day sit-down strike. The “Battle of the Running …
United Auto WorkersFlint Police DepartmentGeneral Motors security forcesFisher Body Plant 2 strikersBob Travis+2 morelabor-rightspolice-violencestrikessit-down-strikesuaw+2 more
At 8:00 p.m. on December 30, 1936, UAW autoworkers occupy General Motors Fisher Body Plant Number One in Flint, Michigan, launching one of the most significant labor actions in American history—a 44-day sit-down strike that transforms the fledgling United Auto Workers from a collection of isolated …
United Auto WorkersGeneral MotorsFisher Body workersBob TravisWalter Reuther+4 morelabor-rightsstrikessit-down-strikesuawgeneral-motors+2 more
The Senate Subcommittee on Education and Labor, chaired by Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr. of Wisconsin, begins hearings on June 6, 1936, launching a four-year investigation that systematically exposes the violent and illegal tactics American corporations use to suppress union organizing. The La …
Robert La Follette Jr.U.S. SenatePinkerton Detective AgencyBurns Detective AgencyRepublic Steel+3 morelabor-rightscorporate-surveillanceunion-bustingcongressional-investigationprivate-security
The La Follette Civil Liberties Committee subpoenas records from major private detective agencies in early 1936, exposing the vast scale of corporate labor espionage in American industry. The investigation reveals that the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, Burns International Detective Agency, …
La Follette CommitteePinkerton Detective AgencyBurns Detective AgencyCorporations Service BureauRailway Audit and Inspection Company+2 morelabor-surveillancecorporate-espionageunion-infiltrationprivate-securitylabor-rights
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935, establishing the first comprehensive federal system for old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and aid to dependent children and the disabled, creating the foundation of the American social safety net. Labor …
Franklin D. RooseveltFrances PerkinsU.S. CongressAmerican Liberty LeagueNational Association of Manufacturers+1 morelabor-rightsnew-dealsocial-insurancecorporate-resistancedemocratic-reform
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the National Labor Relations Act, known as the Wagner Act after sponsor Senator Robert Wagner (D-NY), establishing federal legal protection for workers’ rights to organize unions, engage in collective bargaining, and strike without employer retaliation. …
Franklin D. RooseveltRobert WagnerU.S. CongressNational Labor Relations BoardAmerican workerslabor-rightswagner-actnlranew-dealcollective-bargaining+1 more
President Roosevelt signs the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) on June 16, 1933, creating the National Recovery Administration (NRA) to oversee the development of industry-wide “codes of fair competition” establishing minimum wages, maximum hours, collective bargaining rights, and …
Franklin D. RooseveltHugh JohnsonU.S. CongressNational Recovery AdministrationU.S. Chamber of Commerce+2 morenew-dealcorporate-captureregulatory-capturelabor-rightsindustrial-policy
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 on June 3, 1918, in Hammer v. Dagenhart, ruling 5-4 that the federal law exceeded federal authority and represented an unwarranted encroachment on state powers to determine local labor conditions. Justice William R. …
U.S. Supreme CourtJustice William R. DayJustice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.supreme-courtchild-laborlabor-rightsjudicial-captureprogressive-era
Congress passed the Adamson Act on September 2, 1916, and President Woodrow Wilson signed it the following day, establishing a standard eight-hour workday with additional pay for overtime for interstate railroad workers. Named for Georgia Representative William C. Adamson, this was the first federal …
President Woodrow WilsonRepresentative William C. AdamsonRailroad Labor BrotherhoodsAustin B. GarretsonU.S. Congresslabor-rightsprogressive-eraworker-protectionregulatory-enforcement
Congress passed the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act in September 1916, the first federal statute to impose restrictions on child labor. Also known as Wick’s Bill, the law prohibited the sale in interstate commerce of goods produced by factories that employed children under 14, mines that employed …
U.S. CongressPresident Woodrow Wilsonlabor-rightschild-laborprogressive-eraregulatory-enforcement
John D. Rockefeller Jr. endured three days of grueling public testimony before the U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations, chaired by Progressive lawyer Frank Walsh, regarding the April 1914 Ludlow Massacre in which Colorado National Guard troops and private guards employed by Rockefeller’s …
John D. Rockefeller Jr.Frank WalshCommission on Industrial RelationsColorado Fuel and Iron Companylabor-rightscorporate-violencecongressional-investigationprogressive-erarockefeller
Soldiers from the Colorado National Guard and private guards employed by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I) attacked a tent colony of approximately 1,200 striking coal miners and their families in Ludlow, Colorado, on April 20, 1914, killing approximately 21 people, primarily …
Colorado National GuardColorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I)United Mine Workers of AmericaJohn D. Rockefeller Jr.Governor Elias M. Ammons+1 morelabor-rightscorporate-violencestate-repressionprogressive-eraworker-organizing
The Supreme Court unanimously upheld an Oregon law limiting women’s workdays to ten hours in Muller v. Oregon, creating a narrow exception to the anti-labor Lochner doctrine. Attorney Louis Brandeis filed a revolutionary 113-page brief containing only two pages of legal argument and over 100 …
Supreme Court of the United StatesLouis BrandeisCurt MullerOregon LegislatureNational Consumers Leaguelabor-rightsjudicial-captureprogressive-eragender-discriminationworking-conditions
Upton Sinclair published “The Jungle” on February 26, 1906, after serializing it in the Socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason from February to November 1905. The 26-year-old writer spent seven weeks in fall 1904 investigating Chicago’s “Packingtown”—a dense complex of …
Upton SinclairDoubledayAppeal to Reasoninvestigative-journalismmuckrakinglabor-rightspublic-healthcorporate-power+1 more
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in Lochner v. New York on April 17, 1905, striking down a New York law that limited bakery workers to a 60-hour work week as unconstitutional. Justice Rufus Peckham’s majority opinion held that the law violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due …
U.S. Supreme CourtJustice Rufus PeckhamJustice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.Justice John HarlanJoseph Lochnersupreme-courtlabor-rightscorporate-powerjudicial-captureprogressive-era+1 more
On October 3, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt convened an unprecedented conference in Washington bringing together representatives of government, labor, and management to resolve the anthracite coal strike that threatened to leave Americans without heating fuel for the approaching winter. …
On May 12, 1902, 147,000 anthracite coal miners in eastern Pennsylvania, organized by the United Mine Workers under President John Mitchell, went on strike after railroad companies that owned the mines refused to meet with union representatives. The miners demanded better wages, shorter work weeks …
United Mine WorkersJohn MitchellTheodore RooseveltRailroad companiesCoal mine operatorslabor-rightsprogressive-eracorporate-powerfederal-intervention
Gold miners in Cripple Creek, Colorado, launch a strike after mine owners announce they will either extend the workday from eight to ten hours for the same $3 daily wage or maintain eight-hour days while reducing wages to $2.50 per day. Western Federation of Miners president John Calderwood issues a …
Western Federation of MinersGovernor Davis Hanson WaiteColorado State MilitiaJohn CalderwoodMine owners+1 morelabor-rightsgilded-agemining-industrystate-interventionunion-victory+1 more