The Scrapbook

Here are the questions and answers for today's Labor Day history/news quiz.

1. Where and when was Labor Day first celebrated?
Ans: 1882, New York City

2. When did it become national holiday?
Ans: 1894; signed into law by Grover Cleveland

3. How much was the first federal minimum wage?
Ans: 25 cents 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act

4. What is the current federal minimum wage?
Ans: $5.85; (NY/NJ $7.15; CT $7.65 )

5. How many Americans hold two jobs?
Ans: 5% or 7.6 million

6. Compared to Europe, Americans get little paid vacation time. European workers are guaranteed how many paid vacation days a year?
20 (Center for Economic and Policy Research -CEPR)

7. And how many days are Americans guaranteed?
0 (various, including Sicko)

8. May Day is Workers Day around the world. Why not in America?
It was moved to September because union leaders and Cleveland didn't want it to be associated with the Haymarket Square riot.

9. What President broke the air traffic controllers union?
Ronald Reagan, 1981. PATCO had endorsed him.

10. Which President was also president of a union?
Ronald Reagan. (Screen Actors Guild)

11. Most of us probably know that New York's Finest refers to police officers and New York's Bravest are the firefighters, but do you know who the "Strongest" are?
Sanitation workers

12. And who are New York's Boldest?
Corrections officers

13. After two of New York's Bravest died fighting the Deutsche Bank fire, the New York Times wrote about the fact that one of them was in a dwindling club - firefighters over the age of 50. Firefighters can retire after 20 years on the job, roughly what percentage of New York's 9-thousand-plus firefighters are still on the job?
5.5 percent [502]

14. What percentage of Americans are union members today?
12

15. What is America's largest union?
NEA,3.2 million; aft has 1.4

16. How many manufacturing jobs has America lost since 2001?
3 million according to US Census.

17. What labor leader ran for U.S. President from a jail cell?
Eugene V. Debs

18. What union was thrown out of the AFL-CIO in 1957 for corruption?
Teamsters

19. What is the President's annual salary?
(400,00; 198,600 for VP)

20. The census bureau also analyzed the average income by education level. How much more money does an American with a college degree earn than someone with only a high school diploma?
$25,000
(advanced degree $79,946; college $54,689; high school $29,448; none $19,915)

21. And as a reward for listeners to the whole show today, what workers are planning to strike next week and why?
New York Taxi Workers Alliance is threatening to strike over the installation of GPS in medallion cabs

22. Who was Frances Perkins?
FDR's labor secretary, first woman in the cabinet

23. Who is 11th in Presidential succession?
Labor Secretary

24. Who is current Labor Secretary?
Elaine Chao

25. Can she be president?
No, born in Taiwan

26. Astronomical Wall Street bonuses are blamed for the high prices of real estate and restaurant meals. What was the average payout last year at the biggest U.S. securities firms?
$220,650

27. The Supreme Court stepped in on a labor issue at the end of their last term when they upheld a department of labor regulation that exempted what group of workers from federal minimum wage and overtime pay regulations?
On June 11, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) regulation exempting in-home healthcare aides and companion services workers employed by third-party agencies from federal minimum wage and overtime pay requirements.

EXTRA:
What crucial labor event also happened in 1894? The Pullman Car strike.
Who led the Pullman strike? Eugene Debs
How old is the water cooler? The fountain was invented in early 1900s by Halsey Taylor, his father died from typhoid from contaminated water. Coolers with bottles came along in the 1950s.
When was the first labor strike? the Portsmouth naval yard in 1854 was unsuccessful; the first successful strike is considered the 1860 Lynn, Mass. shoe workers strike
When did the 8-hour day and the 40-day work become law? 1938 Under Fair Labor Act
Where is Haymarket Square and what happened there? Chicago, strike at McCormack Reaper factory.
What is Loyalty Day? May 1, a holiday created in 1958 America as anti-communist day to counter May Day celebrations in Europe.
What radical thing did Henry Ford do in 1914? Paid his workers $5/day, (doubled the old rate) and reduced work day to eight hours.

Posted by leboheme at 01:50 PM

New York Times sports columnist William Rhoden in our studios for his last weekly sports update in August on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/30/07.

Posted by Seamus at 01:04 PM

Dr. Sharon Dunn, senior instructional manager for arts education in the Department of Education's Office of Arts and Special Projects, listens to a caller discussing funding for arts programs in New York City public schools on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/29/07.

Posted by Seamus at 01:17 PM

NPR's Baghdad bureau chief Jamie Tarabay describes reporting from the Iraq war zone on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/29/07.

Posted by Seamus at 01:16 PM

Mark Lilla, professor of humanities at Columbia University and author of "The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West," discusses the "Great Separation" between religion and politics on The Brian Lehrer Show. August 23, 2007.

Posted by Seamus at 01:30 PM

Agnes Rivera, resident of Wagner Houses and leader of Community Voices Heard, Corinne Haynes, resident of Queensbridge Houses and member of ERDA, and Reginald Bowman, resident of Seth Low Houses, and Brooklyn East District Chair of the Council of Residents Executive Board, continue our series on public housing with guest host Errol Louis on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/21/07.

Posted by Seamus at 12:13 PM

Photographer Marc Joseph describes the appeal of used book stores on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/20/07.

Posted by Seamus at 02:42 PM

WNYC reporter Beth Fertig sits in for Brian on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/20/07.

Posted by Seamus at 02:41 PM

Richard Falkenrath, NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Counter Terrorism, explains the details of the NYPD report on homegrown terrorism on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/16/07.

Posted by Seamus at 12:25 PM

Daily News Columnist Errol Louis was the guest host on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/16/07.

Posted by Seamus at 12:25 PM

Kelefa Sanneh after discussing how iPods keep us honest and that there is no such thing as a musical shame on The Brian Lehrer Show. August 15, 2007

Posted by Seamus at 12:42 PM

WNYC Reporter Beth Fertig gives an update on the federal Department of Transportation's backing of Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/14/07.

Posted by Seamus at 12:54 PM

Editor Michelle Herrera Mulligan and author Sofia Quintero discuss a new complication of Latina erotica on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/14/07.

Posted by Seamus at 12:53 PM

Guest host David Cruz on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/13/07.

Posted by Seamus at 12:13 PM

Queens bloggers have been overshadowed by their colleagues in Brooklyn. The Brian Lehrer Show attempts to remedy the oversight with Meg Cotner of OuterB and Joey in Astoria, Kel Sawyer of The Progressive Southside, and Steve Tiszenkel of Queens Central, 8/10/07.

Posted by Seamus at 01:55 PM

Christopher Dickey, Paris bureau chief for Newsweek, joins us on The Brian Lehrer Show to discuss whether in the action-oriented government of President Nicolas Sarkozy, the old French habit of over-thinking has become passé, 8/10/07.

Posted by Seamus at 01:43 PM

City Limits Investigations Editor Jarrett Murphy joins us on The Brian Lehrer Show to discuss recent findings about New York City's water's ecosystem, 8/10/07.

Posted by Seamus at 01:36 PM

City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez discusses public housing in her district, the Lower East Side of Manhattan, on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/9/07.

Posted by Seamus at 12:24 PM

David Jones, president of the Community Service Society, was a featured guest in the ongoing public housing series on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/9/07.

Posted by Seamus at 12:24 PM

Tom Fredrickson, Senior Reporter for Crain's New York Business, explains the exploding numbers of bank branches in New York City on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/7/07.

Posted by Seamus at 12:50 PM

Petra Symister of the Bed Stuy Blog discusses the prevalence of blogs in Brooklyn on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/6/07.

Posted by Seamus at 12:39 PM

Journalist David Amsden describes people's reactions to his New York Magazine Article on closeted gay men on the Brian Lehrer Show, 8/3/07.

Posted by Seamus at 12:34 PM

Today on The Brian Lehrer Show we divulge the results of our SUV survey and look at what the numbers actually mean with Jamie Kitman. Kitman is the New York Bureau Chief for Automobile Magazine and U.S. editor of the magazine for the U.K. television show “Top Gear.”

Posted by Seamus at 01:39 PM

We announce the results of our SUV "crowdsourcing" project. Associate producer of The Brian Lehrer Show, Jim Colgan, lays out the numbers and singles out the blocks with the highest and lowest percentages.

Posted by Seamus at 01:21 PM

New York Times sports columnist William C. Rhoden joins The Brian Lehrer Show every Thursday in August to talk sports. This week, he looks at the Baseball and Football Halls of Fame and how each sport deals with the issue of a player’s “character.” His book Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete is just out in paperback.

Posted by Seamus at 01:07 PM

Colleen Werthmann, performer with The Civilians theater company, and Steve Cosson, artistic director of The Civilians theater company, pose outside the Brian Lehrer studio after discussing their new musical "Gone Missing," about the trials and tribulations of losing and finding every day items - like your wristwatch or your virginity. August 1, 2007.

Posted by Seamus at 01:35 PM