close
close

topicnews · August 29, 2024

This Labor Day, learn about the hard-fought history of workers’ rights in America! — Mountain Lake PBS

This Labor Day, learn about the hard-fought history of workers’ rights in America! — Mountain Lake PBS

For most of us Labor Day means gathering for family barbecues, going to the beach and enjoying the end of summer with friends. But did you know that this national holiday isn’t just a long weekend to unwind and relax?

Labor Day was celebrated on the first Monday in September and founded in 1894 to celebrate and honor the trade unions who fought for the rights of American workers. Beginning in the Industrial Revolution, workers from industries as wide-ranging as textiles, railroads, and automobiles fought to secure safer working conditions, fair pay, social benefits and the right to form unions. While their hard work resulted in many victories, the fight for workers’ rights continued into the Great Depression and beyond, leading to what we all know today as 40 hour work week. And the fight for working-class rights didn’t end there. From the farmworker movement in the 1960s to 2022, when nurses in Minnesota organized the largest private sector nurses’ strike in U.S. history, it’s all still relevant today!

Labor Day is an opportunity Reflect on the history and hard-fought victories of workers’ rightsthe importance of fair labour practices and the role of trade unions in everyday life. Watch the videos and activities below to learn more about the actions that inspired this national day and community projects that are now raising awareness about labour rights.

Jump to the article sections:

Learn about the hard-fought history of labor laws and unions in America and how the fight for workers’ rights continues today.

How migrant workers organized for equal rights | Compact history

Grades 3-8
Learn firsthand how Latino farmworkers in western New York State organized to overcome discrimination in the 1960s. In the late 19th century, the United States grew in power due to industrial progress and an age of imperialism began. Cory explains how progressive movements led by unions developed to protect workers, but migrant workers remained largely excluded from the advances of American society. After watching, use the teaching tips, vocabulary, and other classroom activities to further explore this topic.

National Labor Relations Act (1935) and source material

Grades 6-12
Also known as Wagner LawThis law was signed by President Franklin Roosevelt on July 5, 1935. It established the National Industrial Relations Board and looked at relations between unions and employers in the private sector. This resource group includes two primary source images and a background essay.

Why 15,000 nurses went on strike in Minnesota | PBS NewsHour

Grades 6-12
In 2022, nurses in Minnesota organized the largest private sector nurse strike in U.S. history, with 15,000 nurses walking off the job for three days. The strike ended without a new contract, but nurses continue to push for better working conditions. While the pandemic pushed many nurses to the brink, some say burnout was years in the making. Issues such as compensation, paid family leave, and workplace violence and protections were cited as key reasons for the nurses’ strike at 13 different hospitals.

Union activism on the rise, reminiscent of the Great Depression | Retro report

Grades 6-12
The Retro report The video explores how, faced with the economic strains of the pandemic, new groups of American workers are driving the formation of unions in restaurants, stores, and warehouses—the largest wave of activism since the 1930s. The accompanying lesson plan asks students to examine the fight for workers’ rights that began with the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom, continued through the Great Depression in the United States, and ended with current efforts.

A strike that changed America | UNUM Short

Grades 6-12
Reaction to a scene in The RooseveltsU.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio examines the legacy of the United Mine Workers Strike of 1902 and the role our modern government should play in labor disputes. UNIT In this short film from April 2020, students explore how unions have impacted workplaces and protected the rights of their workers.

The Uprising of the 20,000: New York shirt-shirt workers begin to strike

Grades 9-12
Watch this video to learn how efforts to improve wages, hours and working conditions for textile workers began in 1909 with the women who worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City, Triangle Fire | AMERICAN EXPERIENCEThe strike they organized eventually spread to the entire garment industry and led to the largest work stoppage in the city’s history.

Dolores Huerta Reader | Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum

Grades K-2
Print and fold this 2-page resume over Dolores Huerta in one brochure! Learn how Dolores Huerta, one of the most important feminist activists of the 20th century, founded the United Farm Workers Union with her co-organizer Cesar Chavez and fought for fairer treatment of farm workers, immigrants and women.

Ai-jen Poo, trade union activist | MacArthur Fellows Program

Grades 6-12
In this interview: MacArthur Fellow 2014 Ai-jen Poo discusses the urgent need to stand up for “women who do the work that makes all other work possible.” Poo is a union organizer whose advocacy for domestic care workers – nannies, housekeepers, and elder care workers – is helping to change working conditions and labor standards for millions of people. With an estimated 1-2 million domestic workers in the U.S. still excluded from most federal and state labor laws, Poo continues to catalyze this movement for respect and improved working conditions.

Larry Itliong: Filipino-American farmworkers | Asian Americans

Grades 6-12
Learn how Filipino and Mexican farm workers formed the United Farm Workers (UFW). In September 1965 Larry Itlionga Manong union leader and co-founder of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), inspired Filipino farmworkers in Delano, California, to start a strike against grape growers. After starting the strike, Itliong and other Filipino leaders called on Mexican Americans to join Filipino farmworkers and fight for civil rights instead of being used as strikebreakers. Dolores Huerta And Cesar ChavezCivil rights leaders who had organized Mexican-American farm workers were persuaded by Filipino leaders to strike together.

Rose Schneiderman | Unladylike2020

Grades 6-12
In this video from Unladylike2020Find out how Rose Schneidermanan immigrant whose family settled in the tenements of New York City’s Lower East Side, became one of the most important labor leaders in American history. A socialist and feminist, she fought to end dangerous working conditions for textile workers and pushed for New York State to grant women the right to vote in 1917. Through videos, discussion questions, vocabulary, and teaching tips, students will learn about Schneiderman’s role in creating a better life for workers in the United States.

Helene Powell: union activist who organized thousands | Rebel Girls

Grades 9-12
Helen Powell Throughout her life, she has fought tirelessly for workers’ rights and gender equality. She entered the world of labor activism at a young age after taking a temporary job at a San Francisco coffee warehouse. When she faced gender-based wage discrimination, Powell took on leadership roles and fought for equal rights for all workers. By age 24, she became a key union representative, speaking to hundreds of factory workers daily about their rights. She later helped workers register to vote, seized opportunities for women in traditionally male roles, and continued to fight against gender discrimination in the workplace.

City of Immigrants | Mission US

Grades 6-8
In City of immigrantsPlayers move through New York’s Lower East Side as Lena, a young Jewish immigrant from Russia. She tries to save money to bring her parents to America, works long hours in a factory for little pay and gets caught up in the growing labor movement.

Labor Day lesson plan

Grades 6-12
The PBS NewsHour Extra The Labor Day lesson plan provides information on the current role of unions and a simulation of the negotiation process.

The Unsung Historians: Maria Moreno | Interactive Lesson

Grades 6-12
Uncover the secret of Maria Morenoa woman who fought for farmworkers’ rights before Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta formed the United Farm Workers, in this interactive lesson. Use primary and secondary sources to learn more about her story, then search for an unsung history-maker in your own community!

Social Practice Art: Engaging Community Through Art | KQED Arts

Grades 6-12
Social art can be pretty much anything: journalism, community work, even a business. The goal is to engage audiences and help people think about social issues in new ways. “For me,” says social artist and professor Stephanie Syjuco, “the best social practice projects are actually trying to get people to have a conversation.”

Fair labor practices, current and historical | New Jersey: Then and now

Grades 6-12
Working conditions in the Paterson silk industry and on the Pinelands farms were different for immigrants and seasonal workers. Labor movements and leaders like Elizabeth Gurley Flynn in Paterson and Elisabeth Weiss at Whitesbog worked to improve working conditions, including fair hours, conditions, and benefits. This lesson examines the working conditions of historic industries in New Jersey and compares them to modern fair labor practices and issues both in the country and around the world.

You may also like...