1619 — Polish workers organized the first strike in America in Jamestown. 

1865 — 13th Amendment abolishes slavery. 

1866 — National Labor Union founded. 

1869 — Colored National Labor Union founded. 

1886 — American Federation of Labor founded. Women were denied membership.

1903 — Women's Trade Union League formed. 

1913 — Department of Labor established.

1935 — National Labor Relations Act guarantees the right to organize, bargain, and strike. 

1935 — Social Security Act passed. 

1935 — Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) founded within the AFL.

1938 — Fair Labor Standards Act establishes the first minimum wage, a 40-hour work week, and abolishes child labor in manufacturing.

1942 — United Steelworkers union founded.

1946 — Largest strike wave in U.S. history.

1947 — Taft-Hartley Act suppresses the rights of unions.

1962 — Federal workers are given the right to join unions and bargain.

1963 — Equal Pay Act bans wage discrimination based on gender.

1964 — Civil Rights Act bans institutional forms of racial discrimination.

1970 — Occupational Safety and Health Act passed.

1993 — Family and Medical Leave Act passed.

2009 — Rights of women to sue over pay discrimination are restored.