Answers.

1.  The Economic Policy Institute has demonstrated that income inequality has risen as union membership has declined, highlighting the importance of unions. In what year did union membership peak at 33.4%?

b. 1945

2. In the 1790s, skilled workers converted their mutual aid societies into trade unions to prevent employers from lowering their wages. Which group of workers formed the first trade union in 1792?

a. Cordwainers (Give yourself an extra point if you knew these were shoe makers.)

3. The Share Croppers’ Union, organized by Communists in Alabama, formed in which year?

c. 1931

4. The largest strikes in U.S. history have occurred in which industries?

a. Railroads (Pullman strike of 1894)
b. Postal Service (strike of 1970)
c. Steel (strike of 1919)
d. Textile (strike of 1934)
e. All of the above

5. During the 2018–19 wave of “Red for Ed” teacher strikes, picketers often wore red shirts. Why was the color red chosen to represent the strikes? (Hint: there is more than  one answer.)

a. Public schools are in the red, instead of being in the black, or fiscally sound.
c. Many strikes occurred in Republican-led or “red” states.
d. Red expresses solidarity.

6. Who said this? “Labor in the white skin can never free itself as long as labor in the black skin is branded.”

c. Karl Marx