Labor History Today

On Labor History Today: What do Chicago’s three Haymarket monuments reveal about labor history, public memory, and who gets to shape the story of the past? Labor historian Peter Cole explains. Plus: Australia’s early fight for the eight-hour day, and Labor History in 2:00 on the 1934 West Coast Maritime Strike.

Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at [email protected]

Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.

#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory

On this week’s Labor History Today: a powerful look at past and present struggles for worker rights and justice. We revisit the Haymarket Affair and the origins of May Day, then hear from historian Marla Ramírez on the forced “banishment” of Mexican American families in the early 20th century—and how those policies echo in today’s debates over deportation and mixed-status families. Plus, a tribute to Pete Seeger and the music that helped sustain generations of labor and social movements.

Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at [email protected]

Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.

#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory

On this week’s Labor History Today: Can resistance to Trumpism help rebuild worker power?

Jeremy Brecher, author of Strike!, joins labor historian Joe McCartin and organizer Stephen Lerner to discuss their argument that bold, disruptive action—from strikes to economic pressure campaigns—can revive the labor movement, drawing on both history and on-the-ground organizing to map a way forward.

We also visit Tacoma, Washington, where Sarah Gray takes us to the gravesite of “Solidarity Forever” author Ralph Chaplin—showing how labor history lives on in local traditions.

And in Labor History in 2, Rick Smith marks the 1999 West Coast port shutdown, when dockworkers struck in solidarity with Mumia Abu-Jamal—demonstrating the power of international labor solidarity.

Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at [email protected]

Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.

This week’s Labor History Today features Labor Express Radio in Chicago, previewing May Day 2026. From the 1886 fight for the eight-hour day to today’s call for an “economic blackout,” organizers are mobilizing for what could be a major test of workers’ power. Find out more about May Day activities at maydaystrong.org
Music: We Have Fed You All for a Thousand Years by George Mann.

Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at [email protected]

Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.

On this week’s Labor History Today, producer producer Harold Phillips talks with Victoria McCallum and Lantz Simpson, co-writers of The Last Words of Joe Hill, a short play imagining Joe Hill in a modern coffee shop, sparking conversations about unions, work, and power.

The interview is interspersed with scenes from the radio version of the play, as Hill’s voice challenges young workers navigating low wages, job insecurity, and organizing drives—echoing struggles that continue today.

From the legacy of the Industrial Workers of the World to current campaigns like Starbucks Workers United, the episode explores how labor history still speaks to the present—and why, as Hill urged, the message remains: don’t mourn, organize.

Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at [email protected]

Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.

#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory