Labor Jawn

Labor Jawn Historian Gabe Christy and musician Young Sam James explore the working class history of Philadelphia and the surrounding world.

NEW EPISODE: 1936 Berkshire Knitting Mill StrikeBy 1936, Berkshire Knitting Mills was one of the largest hosiery manufac...
20/10/2025

NEW EPISODE: 1936 Berkshire Knitting Mill Strike

By 1936, Berkshire Knitting Mills was one of the largest hosiery manufacturers in the world, and the American Federation of Hosiery Workers knew that if they could organize it, they could apply pressure to the entire industry and secure safety, wages, and the 40 hour week for thousands of workers.

1: episode cover art
2: Berkshire Knitting Mills
3: Ferdinand Thun, Gustav Oberlaender, and Henry Janssen (courtesy of the Henry Janssen Library, Berks History Center)
4: 'section of winding department showing yarn stretcher'
5: strikers and protesters 'mob cars with boos and bricks'
6: workers carry a fatally injured strikebreaker to the Mill infirmary

On October 9, 1973, the “Godmother of Rock and Roll” Sister Rosetta Tharpe died at Temple University Hospital in Philade...
09/10/2025

On October 9, 1973, the “Godmother of Rock and Roll” Sister Rosetta Tharpe died at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. Armed with an electric guitar and a powerful voice, Tharpe was highly influential in not only the genres of rock and roll, gospel, country, and blues, but also to musicians such as Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, and Chuck Berry, who once said that his entire career was “one long Sister Rosetta Tharpe impersonation."

Today we joined Starbucks Workers United and their supporters in Philly for a practice picket to show Starbucks manageme...
28/09/2025

Today we joined Starbucks Workers United and their supporters in Philly for a practice picket to show Starbucks management that it's the workers who make the company run.

No contract? No coffee! Go Birds!

On September 26, 2001, Temple's board of trustees voted to recognize the Temple University Graduate Students Association...
25/09/2025

On September 26, 2001, Temple's board of trustees voted to recognize the Temple University Graduate Students Association (TUGSA).

TUGSA's origins stretch back to April 2, 1997, when the Graduate Association for Teaching and Research held its first meeting.

"Despite teaching the same courses as full-time professors, graduate student employees did not receive the benefits that professors or other University staff received: graduate students received a baseline salary of $10,000, with no health insurance subsidy, no cost of living adjustment, and no grievance procedure." -TUGSA

What followed was a years-long battle for employee status, union recognition, and better working conditions. On February 12, 1999, TUGSA filed for a union election with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB), but it wasn't until October 17, 2000 that the PLRB ruled that graduate students were in fact employees and could unionize. In March 2001, these employees voted 290 to 16 in favor of union representation and were formally recognized by the university in September. On May 18, 2002, TUGSA members ratified their first contract, becoming the first graduate student employee union in Pennsylvania to do so.

When the United Textile Workers of America declared a general textile strike in 1934, the people of Hazleton, Pennsylvan...
22/09/2025

When the United Textile Workers of America declared a general textile strike in 1934, the people of Hazleton, Pennsylvania had a choice: would they stand with the textile workers, or the bosses?

Episode 39 originally aired on November 30, 2022.

"If you can get that meme to me by EOD that'd be great, mmmkay?"
22/09/2025

"If you can get that meme to me by EOD that'd be great, mmmkay?"

"If it is a crime, under the American law, punishable by imprisonment, for being opposed to human bloodshed, I am perfec...
21/09/2025

"If it is a crime, under the American law, punishable by imprisonment, for being opposed to human bloodshed, I am perfectly willing to be clothed in the stripes of a convict and to end my days in a prison cell."
-Eugene V. Debs (October 1920)

On October 14, we plan to celebrate the life of Matthew “Ted” Guinan, a labor organizer who cofounded the Transport Work...
19/09/2025

On October 14, we plan to celebrate the life of Matthew “Ted” Guinan, a labor organizer who cofounded the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) and served as its second president.

Born in Ireland on October 14, 1910, Guinan immigrated to the US in 1929 and worked as a trolley operator in New York City and then as an organizer for TWU local 100. In 1952, he became the International Executive Vice President of TWU until he succeeded fellow Irishman “Red” Mike Quill as union president after Quill’s death in 1966. Guinan held this position until his retirement on May Day, 1979. In 1956, he also served as International Secretary Treasurer.

Throughout his life, Matthew Guinan was committed to equality and social justice. In 1965, he walked with Martin Luther King Jr. during the Selma to Montgomery marches.

Included below is a letter dated November 27, 1956 from TWU leaders Quill and Guinan to King:

Dear Dr. King:

We want to take this opportunity to congratulate you for the mature and courageous leadership you have given not only to the people of Alabama but all Americans in the fight to wipe out the scourge of segregation from our national life. We urge you not to hesitate to call upon the officers and membership of the Transport Workers Union if we can be of any further help to your cause.

With best wishes,

Sincerely,
Michael J. Quill
International President

Matthew Guinan
Int’l. Secretary-Treasurer

1: King and Guinan during the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches
2: King and Guinan at a TWU convention
3: Quill, Secretary of Labor Arthur Goldberg, and Guinan at a TWU convention
4: Guinan, AFL-CIO president George Meany, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, ILGWU president Louis Stulberg, and New York City Central Labor Council president Harry Van Arsdale at the 1968 Labor Day parade in New York City

40 years ago, Jesse Ventura attempted to unionize the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), with a plan to utilize ...
16/09/2025

40 years ago, Jesse Ventura attempted to unionize the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), with a plan to utilize the upcoming Wrestlemania 2 event as leverage in their fight for better conditions and wages. Fellow wrestler Hulk Hogan ratted out Ventura to their boss Vince McMahon, who in turn threatened the wrestlers, squashing the union drive.

In the WWF/E, most wrestlers, or "sports entertainment superstars," worked close to 300 days a year, many times while injured, and were classified as "independent contractors," barring them from protections and rights under the National Labor Relations Act. Many of them developed substance abuse problems to cope with literal back-breaking work, and their constant travel and training schedules kept them from seeing their families. Horror stories about the wrestling business continue to this day, with many wrestlers living with debilitating injuries and some dying young.

Vince McMahon is now a multi-billionaire.

"Vince McMahon has always had this mentality about treating wrestlers like circus animals. All these wrestlers who have broke their backs making this living for years end up with nothing when it’s over. And then they sort of take you out back and they put a slug in the back of your head and dump you. That’s the life of a professional wrestler."
-Bret Hart

1: Hulk Hogan and Jesse Ventura
2: Owen Hart, 34, fell to his death during a WWF wrestling event. Vince McMahon ordered the show to go on
3: Oro, 21, died in the ring
4: Chyna, 46, alcohol/drug overdose
5: Crash Holly, 32, alcohol/drug overdose
6: Big Dick Dudley, 34, kidney failure due to years of painkiller use
7: Curt Hennig, 44, drug overdose
8: Mike Awesome, 42, su***de
9: Miss Elizabeth, 42, alcohol/drug overdose
10: Nancy and Daniel Benoit, 43 and 7, homicide

In the midst of Reaganomics, a budget crisis, and a school board imposing layoffs and school closures, Philadelphia's te...
15/09/2025

In the midst of Reaganomics, a budget crisis, and a school board imposing layoffs and school closures, Philadelphia's teachers fought for "the integrity of [their] contract, the contracts of all people, and, in general, honor among people."

Episode 82 released on September 15, 2025.

1: episode cover art
2: American Federation Teachers (AFT) picket with striking Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) workers at Philadelphia International Airport
3: Philadelphia Inquirer article about the brawl in City Council
4: Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) President John Murray gives a press conference at PFT headquarters
5-6: striking teachers outside the School Administration Building
7: striking teachers hang signs on the John Wanamaker statue outside City Hall
8: Philadelphia Inquirer article about the arrest of striking teachers
9: striking teachers are released from police custody
10: clergy and families protest against the strike

#1981

In 1903, all building construction in Philadelphia was brought to a grinding halt when just a few thousand carpenters sh...
14/09/2025

In 1903, all building construction in Philadelphia was brought to a grinding halt when just a few thousand carpenters showed the power of their union.

Episode 43 originally aired on February 6, 2023.

🎧 Listen to the podcast at www.laborjawn.com

#1903

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