On September 2, 1885, 150 white miners in Rock Springs, Wyoming, brutally attack their Chinese coworkers, killing 28, wounding 15 others, and driving several hundred more out of town.

The miners working in the Union Pacific coal mine had been struggling to unionize and strike for better working conditions for years. But at every juncture the powerful railroad company had bested them. Searching for a scapegoat, the angry miners blamed the Chinese. The Chinese coal miners were hard workers, but the Union Pacific had initially brought many of them to Rock Springs as strikebreakers, and they showed little interest in the miners’ union.

Outraged by a company decision to allow Chinese miners to work the richest coal seams, a mob of white miners impulsively decided to strike back by attacking Rock Spring’s small Chinatown. When they saw the armed mob approaching, most of the Chinese abandoned their homes and businesses and fled for the hills. But those who failed to escape in time were brutally beaten and murdered. A week later, on September 9, U.S. troops escorted the surviving Chinese back into the town where many of them returned to work. Eventually the Union Pacific fired 45 of the white miners for their roles in the massacre, but no effective legal action was ever taken against any of the participants.

Source: history.com for the complete article

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1869 – America’s first Labor Day –

09/02/2025 Nativegrl77

The Knights of Labor, a labor union of tailors in Philadelphia, hold the first Labor Day ceremonies in American history. The Knights of Labor was established as a secret society of Pennsylvanian tailors earlier in the year and later grew into a national body that played an …read more

Citation Information

Article Title

America’s first Labor Day

Author History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/americas-first-labor-day

Access Date

December 27, 2022

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

December 26, 2019

Original Published Date

February 9, 2010

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Happy Labour Day ~ 5 Ways to Fight for Working Families on Labor Day

09/01/2025 Nativegrl77

A repost from 2019

Happy Labor Day! Labor Day is a day for celebrating the achievements and hard work of the American workforce. Working families are the economic backbone of our country, and our policies should support and value them accordingly: all workers deserve fair wages, safe work environments free from harassment and discrimination, and the time and flexibility they need to care for themselves and their loved ones.

5 Ways to Fight for Working Families on Labor Day

So today and every day, here are five ways you can thank and support working families:

Spread the word about workers’ rights. Knowledge is power, and in order for the law to be meaningful, workers must know and feel empowered to exercise their rights. Our state-by-state guide provides a comprehensive overview of federal, state, and local laws that support working families.

Make sure workers know where to get legal help. We run a free and confidential legal clinic where workers call us with questions or when they think their workplace rights have been violated. You can too at 1-833-NEED-ABB (1-833-633-3222).
Advocate for strong workplace protections. We’re fighting to pass laws across the country that guarantee fairness for pregnant workers (27 states down!), paid family and medical leave, paid sick time, flexible scheduling, breastfeeding protections, and more.
Defend local progressive legislation. We’re working with advocates and elected officials across the country to defend local governments, who increasingly face obstacles to passing progressive legislation in the form of states blocking, or “preempting,” ordinances like paid sick days, increased minimum wage, and more.
Fight back against efforts to roll back workers’ rights. It’s important to make our voices heard when workers’ rights are under attack. We must continue to speak out against the Trump administration’s demonstrated hostility towards workers, from the potential appointment of a Labor Secretary with a proven history of prioritizing corporate interests at the expense of workers to its efforts to make it legal to discriminate against LGTBQ workers.

Despite much progress, we still have a long way to go in the fight to secure basic workers’ rights and protections across the country. But this Labor Day, let’s pause and say thank you to working families for all that they do!

Warmly,

Dina and Sherry

Co-Founders & Co-Presidents

A Better Balance

resource: networkforgood.com

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