Tag Archives: union

Trying to piece together the young life of my great grandmother, Minnie Florian Wise

By Mark | January 7, 2020

The woman to the right is my great grandmother. Her name was Minnie Florence Wise, and she was born on December 9, 1892, in Montgomery County, Kentucky, which is about 30 miles east of Lexington, where, if I’m not mistaken, her grandfather, John Anderson Wise (1823-1893), fought on the side of the Union during the […]

Posted in History, Mark's Life, Uncategorized | Also tagged 14th Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, 1889, 1892, 1900, 1912, 1950, Arlo, barefoot, census, Charles Maynard, Civil War, coal, Confederate States, Curt Florian, Curtis Florian, depression glass, Florian, flour sack dresses, Franklin, Franklin County, genealogy, Georgetown, Goin' Up Cripple Creek, Grover Cleveland Wise, Jefferson Davis, Jefferson Davis Wise, John Anderson Wise, John Calhoun Wise, Joseph Phillip Florian, Kentucky, Louvina J. Tipton, Ma Florian, Mark's ancestors, Mark's aunt Betsy, marriage license, Matilda Gill, Matilda Gill Wise, Mayfair Open Rose, Minnie Florence Wise, Minorsville, Mollie Onan, Monterey, Mt. Sterling, National Archives, Rebecca Clark, root cellar, Scott County, secession, Seth Reese Wise, Stamping Ground, Switzer, West Virginia, White Sulpher, Wise, Woodlake | 15 Comments

Remembering those who died so that we might picnic on Labor Day

By Mark | September 4, 2016

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the history of Labor Day, I thought that I’d share this old post one more time. As some of you probably know, Labor Day was first celebrated here in the United States in 1882. It wasn’t, however, made a national holiday until 1894, in the wake of […]

Posted in History, Uncategorized | Also tagged American Railway Union, Chicago, child labor, coal mines, Eugene Debs, Grover Cleveland, Illinois, Labor Day, labor history, Pullman, Pullman Palace Car Company, Richard Olney, Sherman anti-trust act, Socialism, strikes, switchmen | 15 Comments

Are we watching the American labor movement die at Caterpillar?

By Mark | July 24, 2012

While I don’t generally make it a practice to steal posts outright, in their entirety, from other sites, I just read something on Metafilter that I want to share with you. It concerns the busting of the machinists’ union at Caterpillar, and I really doubt whether I could say it any better. Here’s the post, […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Corporate Crime | Also tagged Caterpillar, scabs, strikes, temps, union busting, unions | 17 Comments

A vast majority of Americans want to repeal the Bush tax cuts, raise taxes on millionaires to cover the deficit, cut subsidies for oil companies, and preserve collective bargaining rights

By Mark | March 3, 2011

The results of a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll were released yesterday. They showed, among other things, that a vast majority of Americans would prefer to raise taxes on the wealthy rather than cut social services. Here’s MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow discussing the results.