Groundbreaking on the first section of the New York City subway system, from City Hall to the Bronx. According to the New York Times, this was a worker’s review of the digging style of the well-dressed Subway Commissioners: "I wouldn't give th' Commish'ners foive cents a day fer a digging job. They're too shtiff" - 1900

The Granite Cutters National Union begins what is to be a successful nationwide strike for the 8-hour day. Also won: union recognition, wage increases, a grievance procedure and a minimum wage scale - 1900

Gathering in the back room of Behrens’ cigar shop in Sedalia, Missouri, 33 railroad clerks form Local Lodge Number 1 of a union they named the Order of the Railroad Clerks of America - 1899

Delegates to the AFL convention in Salt Lake City endorse a constitutional amendment to give women the right to vote - 1899.

70-year-old Mother Jones organizes the wives of striking miners in Arnot, Pa., to descend on the mine with brooms, mops and clanging pots and pans. They frighten away the mules and their scab drivers. The miners eventually won their strike - 1899

New York City newsboys, many so poor that they were sleeping in the streets, begin a two-week strike. Several rallies drew more than 5,000 newsboys, complete with charismatic speeches by strike leader Kid Blink, who was blind in one eye. The boys had to pay publishers up front for the newspapers; they were successful in forcing the publishers to buy back unsold papers - 1899

When their demand that only union men be employed was refused, members of the Western Federation of Miners dynamited and destroyed the $250,000 mill of the Bunker Hill Company at Wardner, Idaho - 1899

Company guards kill at least eight miners who are attempting to stop scabs, Virden, Ill. Six guards also were killed, and 30 persons wounded - 1898

Coal company guards kill 7, wound 40 striking miners who are trying to stop scabs, Virden, Ill. - 1898

Union Carpenters win a 25-cents-per-day raise, bringing wages for a nine-hour day to $2.50 - 1898

Congress passes the Erdman Act, providing for voluntary mediation or arbitration of railroad disputes and prohibiting contracts that discriminate against union labor or release employers from legal liability for on-the-job injuries - 1898

U.S. & Canadian workers form Western Labor Union. It favors industrial organization and independent labor party politics - 1898