Today in labor history Dec 8 “A struggle is going on in all of the civilized world

[Omaha Steve]

December 08

25 unions found the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in Columbus, Ohio; Cigarmaker’s union leader Samuel Gompers is elected president. The AFL’s founding document’s preamble reads: “A struggle is going on in all of the civilized world between oppressors and oppressed of all countries, between capitalist and laborer...” - 1886

More on AFL event:
December 8, 1886 - The American Federation of Labor was organized in Columbus, Ohio, by 25 craft unions. It grew out of the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, which had been formed in 1881 in Pittsburgh. The AFL represented nearly half a million workers at its inception. Its goals included the eight-hour workday, an end to child labor and compensation for workers injured on the job.

December 8, 1911 - Twenty-one electrical workers organized a local of the International Brotherhood of Electrical workers in Winona, Minn.

114-day newspaper strike begins, New York City - 1962

December 8, 2000 - The citizens of Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, India and the United States issued the Cochabamba (Bolivia) Declaration, asserting that water is a fundamental human right and public trust. Water should not be treated as a commodity or turned over to private companies seeking profits at the expense of the public good.