First edition of IWW "Little Red Song Book" published - 1909

While white locomotive firemen on the Georgia Railroad strike, blacks who are hired as replacements are whipped and stoned -- not by the union men, but by white citizens outraged that blacks are being hired over whites. The Engineers union threatens to stop work because their members are being affected by the violence - 1909

The Canadian government establishes the Department of Labour. It took the U.S. another four years - 1909