Today in Labor History April 6, 1905: The Teamsters launched a sympathy strike with clothing cutters in Chicago. The strike started on December 15, 1904, at Montgomery Ward. The company locked out the workers and tried to starve them. The strike quickly spread to other unions. By April 6, 1905, there were 5,000 clothing workers on the picket lines. The teamsters added another 10,000 of their own. The bosses tried to ram through armed wagons full of scabs. The strikers fought back. Things grew increasingly violent. By the time the strike ended in May, twenty-one people were dead, mostly workers.

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Today in Labor History February 28, 1986: The entire workforce of the 3M factory in Elandsfontein, South Africa, went on strike in solidarity with 450 members of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers who 3M laid off at a plant in New Jersey.

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