Today in Labor History April 26, 1924: The U.S. House of Representatives passed House Joint Resolution No. 184. It was a constitutional amendment to prohibit the labor of persons under 18 years of age. The Senate approved the measure a few weeks later, but it was never ratified by the states and is still technically pending. Even so, the act included many exclusions, like in agriculture. From 2015 to 2022, the number of kids working in violation of child labor laws rose by 283%. And, as you all probably already have heard, many Republican leaders are weakening child labor laws to make it even easier, and legal, to exploit kids in dangerous, low-paid jobs.

https://usafacts.org/articles/is-child-labor-increasing-in-us/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #childlabor #ChildExploitation #children

I have posted this haunting photograph of a 10-year old mill worker before, but it bears repeating. By Lewis W. Hine (1874-1940), “One of the spinners in Whitnel Cotton Mfg. Co. N.C. December 1908.” #photography #vintagephotography #childlabor #labor

From the Cantor Art Center: “In 1908, Lewis Hine felt so strongly about the devastating affects of child labor that he quit working as a New York City school teacher to become an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee.
Hine spent the next 10 years traveling through New England, the South and the Mid-West, photographing children at work in mills, coal mines and factories. The resulting photographs, proof to the public that child labor was thriving, helped change American labor laws…

Lewis Hine was born September 26, 1874, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He studied sociology at the University of Chicago, Columbia University, and New York University, and became a teacher at the Ethical Culture School, a progressive elementary school in New York founded by social reformer Felix Adler. Hine often took his classes to Ellis Island to photograph immigrants arriving from Europe, and in the process came to the realization that documentary photography could effect social change. In 1907, as staff photographer of the Russell Sage Foundation, he photographed Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, steel makers for an influential sociological study, and a year later became the National Child Labor Committee's (NCLC) official photographer, documenting child labor in the NCLC's effort to legally end the practice. From 1908 to 1924, Hine gained entrance to mills, mines and factories by donning a variety of guises, including fire inspector and Bible salesman. The NCLC amassed a collection of 5,100 photographs, most of them taken by Hine, though child labor would continue largely unabated until 1938, when the Fair Labor Standard Act was passed.

During World War I, Hine documented the American Red Cross's work in France and Belgium. In 1930, at age 57, he was commissioned to photograph the construction of the Empire State Building, shooting from a basket hanging 1,000 feet above Fifth Avenue. During the Great Depression, he documented drought relief in the South, life in the Eastern Tennessee Mountains, and served as chief photographer for the Works Projects Administration (WPA). During the last years of his life, Hine struggled financially, losing his house and applying for Welfare. He died on November 3, 1940, following complications from surgery.”

5-year old child worker in the shrimp industry, Biloxi, Mississippi, USA, ~1910

https://piefed.social/c/historyphotos/p/1997271/5-year-old-child-worker-in-the-shrimp-industry-biloxi-mississippi-usa-1910

They yearn for it even today

https://piefed.social/c/historymemes/p/1949620/they-yearn-for-it-even-today

Today in Labor History March 25, 1911: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City killed 146 people, mostly immigrant women and young girls who were working in sweatshop conditions. As tragic as this fire was for poor, working class women, over 100 workers died on the job each day in the U.S. in 1911. What was most significant was that this tragedy became a flash point for worker safety and public awareness of sweatshop conditions.

The Triangle workers had to work from 7:00 am until 8:00 pm, seven days a week. The work was almost non-stop. They got one break per day (30 minutes for lunch). For this they earned only $6.00 per week. In some cases, they had to provide their own needles and thread. Furthermore, the bosses locked the women inside the building to minimize time lost to bathroom breaks.

A year prior to the fire, 20,000 garment workers walked off the job at 500 clothing factories in New York to protest the deplorable working conditions. They demanded a 20% raise, 52-hour work week and overtime pay. Over 70 smaller companies conceded to the union’s demands within the first 48 hours of the strike. However, the bosses at Triangle formed an employers’ association with the owners of the other large factories. Soon after, strike leaders were arrested. Some were fined. Others were sent to labor camps. They also used armed thugs to beat up and intimidate strikers. By the end of the month, almost all of the smaller factories had conceded to the union. By February, 1910, the strike was finally settled.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #TriangleShirtwaistFire #workplacedeaths #strike #union #immigrant #sweatshop #childlabor #workplacesafety #fire #women #prison #newyork

Red states are rolling back child labor laws. Additionally, the number of employment violations has quintupled in ten years. Kids as young as ten were employed by McDonalds. Kids were also working in hazardous positions such as in meatpacking plants.
Prepare to see more of this.
#childlabor

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/22/child-labor-protections-republicans

Today in Labor History March 18, 1871: The Paris Commune began on this date. It started with resistance to occupying German troops and the power of the bourgeoisie. They governed from a feminist and anarcho-communist perspective, abolishing rent and child labor, and giving workers the right to take over workplaces abandoned by the owners. The revolutionaries took control of Paris and held on to it for two months, until it was brutally suppressed. During Semaine Sanglante, the nationalist forces slaughtered 15,000-20,000 Communards. Hundreds more were tried and executed or deported. Many of the more radical communards were followers of Aguste Blanqui. Élisée Reclus was another leader in the commune. Many women participated, like Louise Michel and Joséphine Marchais, including in the armed insurrection. Nathalie Lemel, a socialist bookbinder, and Élisabeth Dmitrieff, a young Russian exile, created the Women's Union for the Defence of Paris and Care of the Wounded, demanding gender and wage equality.

Read my complete biograph of Louise Michel here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/20/louise-michel/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #paris #commune #anarchism #communism #execution #massacre #feminism #ChildLabor #Revolution #wageequality #socialism #agusteblanqui #ÉliséeReclus #womenshistorymonth #louisemichel