Labor Jawn

Labor Jawn Historian Gabe Christy and musician Young Sam James explore the working class history of Philadelphia and the surrounding world.

NEW PODCAST EPISODE!!!Episode 86: 1963 Racial Justice Sit-InsWhen the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter was adopted in 1951...
08/10/2026

NEW PODCAST EPISODE!!!

Episode 86: 1963 Racial Justice Sit-Ins

When the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter was adopted in 1951, it established a new governmental body specifically tasked with ending race discrimination in hiring. But a decade later, little had changed. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) took on the fight to change this.

🎧 Episode 86 was released on August 10, 2026.

1: Cover art
2: Philadelphia Evening Bulletin article
3: Redlining map
4: Transit strike of 1944
5: Sadie T.M. Alexander
6-7: Construction of the Municipal Services Building (1962)
8: CORE protestors sleeping on the floor of the reception room
9: Louis S. Smith, President of the Philadelphia chapter of CORE
10: NAACP protest against job discrimation in school construction (May 1963)

#1963

Hot labor summer all year long.
07/29/2026

Hot labor summer all year long.

The Battle of the Overpass occurred at the Ford Motor Company River Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan on May 26, 1937 ...
07/04/2026

The Battle of the Overpass occurred at the Ford Motor Company River Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan on May 26, 1937 when company thugs attacked members of the United Auto Workers (UAW).

Union organizers, including future president Walter Reuther, planned to conduct a leaflet campaign called, "Unionism, Not Fordism," when they were assaulted by dozens of men from Ford's Service Department, including Pinkerton agents. Both Reuther and organizer Richard Frankensteen were injured, and organizer Richard Merriweather suffered a broken back.

1: UAW organizational director Frankensteen being beaten by Ford company agents
2: Ford agents and union organizers square off before the attack
3-4: Reuther and Frankensteen after the assault
5: Union members and supporters hand out literature at the Ford plant in August 1937

07/02/2026

The only thing hotter than the heat in Philly is Sam's vain attempt at parodying Ice Cube's No Vaseline for our latest episode.

🎧 Check out the new hit single, "YES PICKETLINE," then go listen to Episode 85: 1930 H.C. Aberle Strike and the Murder of Carl Mackley.

Get 'em while they're young.
06/28/2026

Get 'em while they're young.

Happy Birthday to all of you lovely Wobblies out there!The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was founded on this day...
06/28/2026

Happy Birthday to all of you lovely Wobblies out there!

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was founded on this day in Chicago in 1905. At the first convention of the IWW, organizer and founding member "Big" Bill Haywood stated "we are here to confederate the workers of this country into a working class movement that shall have for its purpose the emancipation of the working class..."

Get ready for a hot labor summer by decking yourself out in hot union swag!Visit Philly Cultural Workers United's pop-up...
06/24/2026

Get ready for a hot labor summer by decking yourself out in hot union swag!

Visit Philly Cultural Workers United's pop-up merch shop from now to July 11th at afscme-store.checkoutstores.com for shirts, hats, bags, and more!

BRAND NEW EPISODE!1930 H.C. Aberle Strike and the Murder of Carl Mackley: In 1930, the unionized hosiery workers at the ...
06/22/2026

BRAND NEW EPISODE!

1930 H.C. Aberle Strike and the Murder of Carl Mackley: In 1930, the unionized hosiery workers at the H.C. Aberle Mills in Kensington struck against wage cuts, demanding arbitration from the bosses. As tensions rose in the midst of the depression, violence broke out between strike supporters and scabs.

🎧 Episode 85 was released on June 22, 2026.

Beginning today, UFCW Local 1776 will be conducting informational pickets at the new GIANT in Roxborough.Unlike at other...
06/19/2026

Beginning today, UFCW Local 1776 will be conducting informational pickets at the new GIANT in Roxborough.

Unlike at other local supermarkets like ACME and SHOPRITE, workers at GIANT are working without a union contract. Show your support for good paying jobs and workplace protections by NOT SHOPPING AT GIANT.

Congratulations to the dockworkers in Philly on this day back in 1913 for winning their strike.
05/29/2026

Congratulations to the dockworkers in Philly on this day back in 1913 for winning their strike.

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