First union on the west coast
"There is evidence of such early trade union activity in San Francisco
that one is tempted to believe that the craftsmen met each other on the
way to California and agreed to unite," said labor historian Lucille
Eaves, only half-joking. The first union was formed in California by printers,
who began meeting in 1850 and struck that year to oppose a wage cut at
the San Francisco newspaper, The Alta California. The San Francisco
Typographical Society affiliated with a national union within a couple
years.
Anton Refregier mural panel.