César Chávez leads 5,000 striking farmworkers on a march through the streets of Salinas, Calif. - 1979

United Shoe Workers of America merge with Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers Union - 1979

International Union of Police Associations granted a charter by the AFL-CIO - 1979

Jimmy Carter-era OSHA publishes standard reducing permissible exposure of lead, protecting 835,000 workers from damage to nervous, urinary and reproductive systems - 1978

The Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) is formally founded at an Ohio convention, during a period of serious corruption in the union. Two years earlier at an IBT convention in Las Vegas a union reform leader who (unsuccessfully) called for direct election of officers and a limit on officers’ salaries had been beaten by thugs - 1978

Bakery & Confectionery Workers International Union of America merges with Tobacco Workers International Union to become Bakery, Confectionery & Tobacco Workers - 1978

United Slate, Tile & Composition Roofers, Damp & Waterproof Workers Association change name to Roofers, Waterproofers & Allied Workers - 1978

OSHA issues standard on cotton dust to protect 600,000 workers from byssinosis, also known as "brown lung" - 1978

Willow Island, WV power station collapses killing 51 construction workers - 1978

Supreme Court rules that employers may not require female employees to make larger contributions to pension plans in order to obtain the same monthly benefits as men - 1978

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters merge with Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employees - 1978

President Jimmy Carter invoked the Taft-Hartley law to halt the 1977-78 national contract strike by the United Mine Workers of America. The order was ignored and Carter did little to enforce it. A settlement was reached in late March - 1978