Richard Bloomingdale, President, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO (AFL-CIO) From efforts to increase pay and benefits for unionized workers to expanding workplace protections for public sector employees, the 2021 Labor Power 100 is a who’s who of leading figures in Pennsylvania labor.
Hundreds of years later, Pennsylvania unions play a key role in standing up for the interests of their workers, and hold immense power in the state’s political landscape.Ĭity & State’s Pennsylvania Labor Power 100 recognizes labor leaders and workers advocates at the forefront of today’s organized labor movement. While the cordwainers weren’t nearly as successful as they had hoped to be, the influence they had on the labor movement was significant nonetheless. The shoemakers advocated for increased wages, but were dealt a devastating blow when the Philadelphia Mayor’s Court charged eight of them with a conspiracy to raise their wages. In the late 1700s, shoemakers in Philadelphia formed a “Society of Journeymen Cordwainers” – one of the first examples of sustained trade union organizing in the nation.
Much like Pennsylvania was the birthplace of America, it was also home to one of the very first chapters in the American labor movement’s history.
