On this day Labor History the year was 1926.
That was the day President Calvin Coolidge signed the Railway Labor Act.
For decades railroad labor disputes had often become bloody affairs.
The railroad companies hired gunmen who killed dozens of strikers in 1877.
The strike was so violent it became known as the “Great Upheaval.”
In Scranton, Pennsylvania, for example hired guns shot into an unarmed crowd of strikers.
Three innocent people were killed.
In 1894 the Pullman Strike had paralyzed interstate commerce, and ended with violent repression by federal troops.
Starting in 1888, the federal government passed a series of acts aimed at stopping these bloody battles.
Then during World War I, railroad operations came under government control.
Labor disputes were sent to a national Board of Adjustment during the war.
This all laid the ground work for the Railway Labor Act.
The goal was to find a better way to resolve railroad labor management disputes.
Representatives from the railroad companies and the unions participated in drafting the act.
It called for a system of mediation for railroad labor contracts and only after the mediation had been exhausted, could the parties attempt other means, such as strikes or lockouts.
Most significantly, it recognized the right for railroad workers to unionize.
Under the act, employers can hire replacement workers during a strike. But they must take back the striking workers when the strike is over.
For an industry that has had a notorious history for firing those who even hinted at a strike, this was an important change.
In 1936 the act was extended to include airline workers. The act is considered an important step toward creation the National Labor Relations Act
Listen to our clips at www.LaborHistoryin2.com
Labor History in 2:00 brought to you by the Illinois Labor History Society and The Rick Smith Show