Documenting Labor Inside and Out:

("Events not located by specific site" are listed in this column)

Entry 79 -- 1865 In February, a state convention in Albany of trade unionists, many of them Civil War veterans, established the Trades Assembly of New York State--the first state labor federation in the nation.

Entry 88 -- 1869 At the 1869 convention of the New York State Workingmen's Assembly in Albany, representatives of the Women's Typographical Union No. 1 and the Collar Laundry Workers of Troy were present. Originally denied credentials, the Constitution was amended later in the convention and the women delegates were seated.

Entry 95 -- 1872 William F. Kaunaugh and James Sheehan were born. Both men dedicated their lives to the improvement of workers' lives and helped found the Albany local of the transport workers.

Entry 106 -- 1878 The Albany Granite Cutters' Union was founded. Stonecutters helped found the Albany Workingmen's Assembly in 1882.

Entry 116 -- 1882 Knights of Labor Local Assembly 2020 formed in Albany. This was the first KoL group in Albany and it accepted as members workers in all trades.

Entry 173 -- 1901 From May 7 to May 18, Albany street car workers struck the United Traction Company for union recognition, a pay raise, and protection against arbitrary discipline. The five hundred striking motormen and conductors were joined by one hundred Albany ship workers and four hundred Troy trolley operators.

Entry 247A -- 1931 Congress passed the Davis-Bacon Act. Sponsored by upstate Congressman Davis, the Act provided for prevailing wage rates to laborers and mechanics employed by contractors and subcontractors on publicly funded construction projects.

Entry 172 -- 1901 First State Department of Labor was established in Albany.

Entry 194 -- 1911 Investigations by the New York State Factory Investigating Committee, established after the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, lead to the enactment of several labor laws in 1911 and 1914.

Entry 222 -- 1917 A red-cap at Albany's Union Station named Henry Johnson joined the U.S. Army. Johnson, an African-American born in 1897 in North Carolina, returned from World War I a hero and was honored with a parade up Fifth Avenue in New York City. However, he never received the Medal of Honor or the Purple Cross, in spite of the fact that the wounds he suffered in battle crippled him for life, unable to return to his job at Union Station. In fact, he was denied all government assistance and died in 1929 "broke, dispirited and in disgrace as an unemployable vagrant". [Note: As of June 2001, repeated efforts to have the Medal of Honor awarded to Johnson posthumously have so far been unsuccessful.]

Entry 235 -- 1925 The New York Committee for Ratification of the Child Labor Amendment brought the Women's Trade Union League, the Consumers' League, and the New York Child Labor Committee together to campaign for a national law to limit child labor in industry.

Entry 236 -- 1926 On May 17, a successful conclusion to a campaign by the Barbers Union and the State Federation of Labor was reached when the Truman-Winters Bill was signed allowing barbers to have Sundays off, including those in New York City and Saratoga.

Entry 246 -- 1930 After a decade of fighting, the State Federation of Labor in Albany achieved enactment of the Injunction Relief Law, described as "the death knell of feudalism in industrial relations."

Entry 253 -- 1933 In February, Frances Perkins accepted the position of Secretary of Labor from President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt becoming the first woman Cabinet officer.

Entry 323 -- 1964 Senator Frederick H. Hastings of Rensselaer and Washington counties introduced the Folger Anti-Strike Bill into the New York State Legislature on March 7, 1964. The bill declared that public workers organized into a trade union were engaged in an unlawful activity and that all strikers would be fined and/or imprisoned.

Entry 329 -- 1967 On September 1, the Public Employees Fair Employment Act (the "Taylor Law") took effect.

Entry 350 -- 1972 On June 29, five thousand union members assembled in Albany to take part in a job rally sponsored by the New York State AFL-CIO. The message of the rally was "New Yorkers need and want jobs."

Entry 351 -- 1972 The first strike by the Civil Service Employees Association began on March 31, 1972, and ended two days later with state workers winning a salary hike, "productivity" bonus, career ladders, and streamlined grievance procedures.

Entry 358 -- 1975 In an attempt to bail New York City out of its fiscal crisis, the State Legislature in Albany mandated that public employee pensions funds be invested in risky New York City bonds. The Civil Service Employees Association went to court and won a ruling that the mandate was unconstitutional.

Entry 363 -- 1980 The public section Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) was passed by the New York State Legislature and signed by the governor. The law provided public workers with the same protection as the federal OSHA law provided for public sector workers.

Source: "The History of Labor in New York State" map, New York Labor History Association, 1998.