On this day in Labor History ghosts and goblins are going door to door to gather up candy. But did you know that some of that candy is made by union workers?
In Hershey, Pennsylvania, tagged the Sweetest place on earth you’ll find the nation’s chocolate center.
It wasn’t always so sweet for workers who in 1937 tried to win union recognition.
Then the company laid off some of the union organizers, and claimed it was due to seasonal cutbacks.
Outraged, 600 workers began a sit-down strike in the plant.
Local dairy farmers relied on Hershey to purchase their milk.
They grew increasingly angry at the strikers.
They joined with workers not participating in the strike, and other community members.
The angry mob stormed the plant to oust the strikers.
Twenty-five strikers were severely beaten and the sit-in strike ended.
But the next year, the Hershey workers tried again to form a union.
This time they affiliated with the Bakery and Confectionery Workers' International Union of America and established Local 464.
They are not the only union members who help make Halloween sweet.
Today the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union Local 1 in Chicago, Illinois makes tootsie rolls.
If your candy of choice is Clark Bars or Thin Mints, you might want to thank a member of Local 348 in Cambridge Massachusetts.
And Local 125 makes Ghirardelli Chocolate in San Francisco.
Unfortunately things are not always so sweet. In September of 2016, 400 union workers at the Just Born candy factory in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania went out on strike. The company decided to change their pensions to 401ks for new hires and reduce health care contributions.
They make such iconic candies as Peeps, Mike & Ike’s, and Hot Tamales.
One strike slogan rang out “no pensions, no peeps!”
February 1 - A Pivotal Moment in the Flint Sit-Down
January 31 - The Big Easy Fires 7000 Teachers
January 30 - Fred Korematsu Day
January 29 - Bread & Roses Striker, Anna LoPizzo, Shot Dead
January 28 - The 1917 Bath Riots
January 27 - Bans on Yellow Dog Contracts Ruled Unconstitutional
January 26 - Sid Hatfield Stands Trial
January 25 - Solidarity Works!
January 24 - Arturo Alfonso Schomburg is Born
January 23 - If Poison Doesn’t Work, Try Briggs!
January 22 - Tragedy in the Mines & in the Union Hall
January 21 - On Strike for Health & Dignity
January 20 - The Flint Womens Emergency Brigades
January 19 - A Snapshot in Misery
January 18 - Is Colorado in America?
January 17 - Standing Against Wage Theft
January 15 - We Want to Live, Not Just Exist
January 14 - The Rise of the Bellamyites
January 13 - Johnny Cash Plays Folsom Prison
January 12 - The Cost of Wartime Industrial Peace
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