Bill Hohlfeld, LaborPress’s resident historian and educator, started out as an ironworker. He describes labor history as “literally, our story. It’s the chronicle of our ancestors.” Gotta know your labor history… It tells us who the farm girls were who went to work in the textile mills of New England; or the cigar workers of New York, who read the[Read More…]

Blue-collar workers die at a disproportionate rate on the job, and afterward, from job-related illnesses. But the harsh reality slips from our grasp, gets pushed aside as the cost of doing business, their difficult and dangerous labors taken for granted. This essay looks at some of the most compelling stories that got book-length treatment, and together, capture the full dimension of death on the job and the aftermath. They provide a blueprint of the issues involved in lost lives, fractured families, regulation, compensation, and culpability.