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Strikes in the United States in the 1930s played a major role in reshaping the economy as it recovered from the Great Depression. Unions gained millions of members for unions in the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the new Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Energized by successful strikes in major industries with the help of New Deal agencies, the unions played a major role in Democratic Party efforts to reelect President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936, as well as 1940 and 1944.

Overview

Between 1930 and 1941, 27,000 work stoppages led to a loss of 172 million labor days, and about 90 deaths. As the economy declined workers were angry but management was losing money and could not afford to raise wages, so the strikes usually failed. This caused desperation among workers and union leaders. However, as the economy shot up starting in summer 1933, labor knew that management would negotiate rather than lose markets and profits. The New Deal unintentionally fueled labor militancy, giving unions a powerful tool in the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, known as the "Wagner Act." It set up the pro-union National Labor Relations Board. Rank-and-file workers, who initiated most stoppages by walking out or sitting down, weighed their lost wages versus the long-term benefits of union membership if they won. The main gains were made by the old established unions belonging to the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and even more dramatically by the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), which split from the AFL in 1935. John L. Lewis of the coal miners' union used his organizers to unionize the nation's steel, auto, rubber and electrical plants. Organized labor's unprecedented accomplishments during this era were impossible without the aid of strikes. However the AFL and CIO became bitter rivals in 1937, as the economy suddenly went into reverse and the conservative Republicans made major gains in the 1938 elections.

Federal role

The involvement of the federal government in labor disputes caused a gradual weakening of employers' power. To address the demands of trade unionists, Congress enacted the Norris–La Guardia Act in 1932. It blocked federal courts from issuing injunctions that helped management. It also stopped federal courts from enforcing yellow-dog contracts in which workers promised not to join a union. The National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (NIRA), specifically Section 7(a), went further: it gave workers the right to join unions of their choice and collectively bargain with management. These new laws had an immediate impact as the number of strikes doubled, with triple the number of strikers.

Major strikes

1934 wave

San Francisco

In 1934, there was a large strike wave with 1.5 million workers going on strike for long-term union recognition, rather than immediate wage or hour concerns. National attention focused on the San Francisco docks when longshoremen formed a new local of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and went on strike in May 1934 due to the national ILA leadership ignoring their concerns. Shipping companies hired vigilantes to beat strikers, and police opened fire on a crowd of unarmed strikers, killing two and injuring many more. A short-lived general strike of 125,000 workers ensued in the city. By the end of July, under the leadership of left-wing firerbrand Harry Bridges, dockworkers won their main demand for a union-controlled hiring hall. Their new union was the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).

Minneapolis general strike of 1934

The Minneapolis general strike of 1934 began on May 16, 1934, when truck drivers in Minneapolis, Minnesota went on strike to demand better working conditions and wages. The strike quickly spread to other industries in the city, including warehouse workers, laundry workers, and others. By the end of the month, over 40,000 workers were on strike, effectively shutting down much of the city's economy. The strike was marked by violent clashes between strikers and police, with the worst violence occurring on July 20, 1934, which became known as "Bloody Friday." Police shot into a crowd of unarmed strikers, killing two and injuring many others. Despite the violence, the strike continued, and eventually, the workers' demands were met. The success of the strike helped to galvanize the labor movement in the United States and led to the establishment of the Teamsters union, which went on to become one of the most powerful labor unions in the country.

Textile strikes 1934

The textile strike of 1934 was a nationwide three-week effort by a million textile workers, especially in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. At the same time there were local strikes in the North led by the United Textile Workers of America (UTW) of the American Federation of Labor. The Southern strike was led by the newly formed National Textile Workers Union (NTWU), and focused on wages and working conditions. The industry was hard hit by the depression and management had imposed new control that were despised, especially struggling employers imposed the hated stretchout tactics of reduced breaks, increased machine-tending and quotas, and more intense supervision. The new rules violated the informal work standards the workers themselves had developed, and they though they had the active support of President Roosevelt. The textile industry was one of the largest employers in the South at the time, and it fought back hard. They hired replacement workers and had the governors call in the National Guard. In the North strikers generally were successful. In the South the strike failed. Few strikers were rehired, and the union movement was demoralized.

Kohler strike

The Kohler strike began in the small town of Kohler, Wisconsin, on April 5, 1934, when over 2,000 workers walked off the job at Kohler Co.. They demanded higher pay and better working conditions. The company hired replacement workers. It turned violent on April 20, when police fired on a group of picketers, killing two and injuring many others. The incident became known as the "Kohler massacre" and caused widespread sympathy for the strikers. The strike was settled on June 6, 1934, when the Kohler Company agreed to a 15% wage increase and improvements in working conditions. The strike was hailed a major victory for labor unions and helped pave the way for increased worker protections and unionization across the nation. Management never accepted the notion that national policy called for recognition of unions that had worker support. Kohler mobilized national anti-union interests and became the scene of three more decades of bitter labor disputes that were expensive for both sides.

Rubber in 1936

Rubber workers struck five different rubber companies over the course of several months in Akron, Ohio. The workers at the largest factory, Goodyear invented a new tactic—the sitdown strike whereby the strikers seize the plant, stop production, and keep strikebreakers out. Goodyear gave up, and recognized the United Rubber Workers (URW). It was a major victory for the labor movement, established the United Rubber Workers as a major union in the rubber industry, and provided a new tactic for future labor struggles.

GM in 1937

Kohler was a local strike against a local company. The Flint strike of 1935-36 started as a small operation against the nation's largest corporation, General Motors (GM). The Flint sit-in workers adopted the new sitdown tactic recently invented by the rubber workers at Goodyear. They did not leave the plant—they occupied it blocking strikebreakers. The strike began on December 30, 1936, when workers at the Fisher Body Plant No. 1 stopped working and just sat down inside the factory. Production stopped. The sit-down strike quickly spread to other GM plants in Michigan and across the country, with more than 100,000 workers taking part. The strike lasted for 44 days. Flint was decisive because the strikers won by shutting down this plant—and soon most GM plants—while Ford and other competitors kept producing cars. GM gave up and recognized the United Automobile Workers union, and gave a 5% raise. Recognition set the standard for heavy industry—major corporations realized they had to bargain with their unions. The Flint sit-down was a turning point in labor history, as it demonstrated the power of workers to collectively organize. The issue of pay was less important than having a voice. It paved the way for the widespread unionization of the American auto industry and helped to establish the UAW as a major force in American labor.

Little Steel in 1937

The steel industry was one of the largest and most important. The new CIO succeeded in organizing without a strike U.S. Steel in 1937. However "Little Steel"--six companies next in size--resisted furiously. According to Bruce Nelson, the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC), was established in 1936 by John L. Lewis, president of both the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) and the new Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Although no steel workers were involved in it at first, the goal was to use UMW and CIO organizers to unionize the nation's great steel industry. Lewis appointed Philip Murray, to head of SWOC, and most of the organizers were on loan from the miners' union. SWOC was influenced by UMW's policies, and many of its officials were also UMW officials.

Lewis was consulted on every major activity. He and his team believed that the steel industry's rigidly hierarchical and autocratic structure required a centralized and responsible union. They waged a series of militant strikes, especially the "Little Steel" strike of 1937, that challenged the traditional image of a stable, strong, and unified union. Murray proclaimed a policy of "complete racial equality" concerning SWOC membership. was referring to European ethnic groups plus Blacks. The strong Communist element in SWOC was promoting the equal inclusion of Black workers. SWOC first goal was to seize the industry's company unions, known as Employee Representation Plans (ERPs), which SWOC aimed to capture from within. By January 1937, many of the ERPs had voted to join SWOC, which claimed to have a membership of 125,000. However, in March 1937, U.S. Steel, which controlled 40% of the industry, signed a collective bargaining agreement with SWOC. US Steel realized tha Roosevelt's reelection in 1936, plus the success of the autoworkers at General Motors, meant union recognition was inevitable.

The Little Steel strike was a violent 1937 labor strike by SWOC against dour smaller steel companies led by Republic Steel, and including Bethlehem Steel, Inland Steel, and Youngstown Sheet and Tube. The strike aimed to achieve union recognition among 81,000 workers in 29 plants. It failed. The opposition was energetically led by Republic's Tom M. Girdler who used every level of force, money and political connections to stymie SWOC. Girdler had advantages: The time was not ripe as the economy was in a sharp recession; SWOC was under attack by the AFL as dual unionism, and by conservatives as infiltrated by Communists. Worst of all, a peaceful rally in Chicago ended in the Memorial Day Massacre as police fired on the crowd, killing ten and ruining the confidence of the strikers. Little Steel defied SWOC in 1937 but when the defense buildup was in high gear in 1941 Washington forced them to accept the unions. SWOC prevailed and swept the industry, becoming the United Steelworkers of America in 1942.

See also

• John L. Lewis
• Labor history of the United States
• Labor history of the United States§Organized labor, 1929–1955
• Timeline of United States history (1930–1949)
• Category:1930s strikes in the United States
• Venice celery strike (1936)

Notes

1. For statistics see "Work Stoppages" in W.S. Woytinsky and Associates, Employment and Wages in the United States (The Twentieth Century Fund, 1953) pp: 282–292.
2. Irving Bernstein, The lean years: A history of the American worker, 1920-1933 (1960) pp 341-343.
3. Irving Bernstein, The turbulent years: A history of the American worker, 1933-1941 (1970).
4. Milton Derber and Edwin Young, eds. Labor and the New Deal (1957) pp 361–372.
5. White, Jonathan (January 24, 2013). "Milwaukee sales clerks strike for wage increases, 1934". Global Nonviolent Action Database. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
6. Robert W. Cherny, "The making of a labor radical: Harry Bridges, 1901-1934." Pacific Historical Review 64.3 (1995): 363-388.
7. David F. Selvin, A terrible anger: The 1934 waterfront and general strikes in San Francisco (Wayne State University Press, 1996).
8. Philip A. Korth, Minneapolis teamsters strike of 1934 (MSU Press, 19950.
9. John A. Salmond, The General Textile Strike of 1934: From Maine to Alabama (U of Missouri Press, 2002).
10. Janet Irons, Testing the New Deal: The General Textile Strike of 1934 in the American South (U of Illinois Press. 2000) online.
11. Walter H. Uphoff, Kohler on Strike: Thirty Years of Conflict (Beacon Press, 1966).
12. Daniel Nelson, "Origins of the sit‐down era: Worker militancy and innovation in the rubber industry, 1934–38." Labor History 23.2 (1982): 198-225. https://doi.org/10.1080/00236568208584653
13. Bernstein, 1970 pp 598–602.
14. Sidney Fine, "The General Motors Sit-Down Strike: A Re-examination." American Historical Review 70.3 (1965): 691-713. online
15. See also Kenneth B. West, " 'On the Line': Rank and File Reminiscences of Working Conditions and the General Motors Sit-down Strike of 1936-37." Michigan Historical Review (1986): 57-82 online.
16. Bruce Nelson, "Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC)" in Encyclopedia of the Great Depression edited by Robert S. McElvaine, (Macmillan Reference USA, 2004) 2:931–933.
17. Paul F. Clark, et al. eds. Forging a Union of Steel: Philip Murray, SWOC, and the United Steel Workers (ILR Press, 1987).
18. Philip L. Cook, "Tom M. Girdler and the Labor Policies of Republic Steel Corporation." Social Science (1967): 21-30 online.
19. Ahmed White, The last great strike: Little Steel, the CIO, and the struggle for labor rights in New Deal America (U of California Press, 2016) online
20. Daniel J. Leab, "The Memorial Day Massacre." Midcontinent American Studies Journal 8.2 (1967): 3-17. online

Further reading

• Arnesen, Eric. Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-Class History (3 Vol, 2006). excerpt
• Brecher, Jeremy. Strike! (South End Press, 1997). pp 144–220. online
• Brenner, Aaron et al., The Encyclopedia of Strikes in American History (2009). online
• Derber, Milton, and Edwin Young, eds. Labor and the New Deal (U. of Wisconsin Press, 1957) online
• Domhoff, G., and Michael J. Webber. Class and power in the New Deal: Corporate moderates, Southern Democrats, and the liberal-labor coalition (Stanford UP, 2011).
• Dubofsky, Melvyn, and Joseph A. McCartin. Labor in America: A history (7th ed. 2017). online 6th edition
• Dubofsky, Melvyn, and Warren R. Van Tine. John L. Lewis : a biography (1986) online
• Duffy, Susan. American labor on stage: dramatic interpretations of the steel and textile industries in the 1930s (1996); the view from Broadway online
• Filippelli, Ronald L., ed. Labor Conflict in the United States: An Encyclopedia (1990).
• Newell, Barbara Warne. Chicago and the Labor Movement: Metropolitan Unionism in the 1930's (U of Illinois Press, 1961), strong on clothing, teamsters, steel, meat packing. online
• Roscigno, Vincent J. The voice of southern labor: radio, music, and textile strikes, 1929-1934 (2004) online

• Taft, Philip. The AF of L. from the Death of Gompers to the Merger (Harper, 1959) online
• Vittoz, Stanley. New Deal Labor Policy and the American Industrial Economy (1987)
• White, Ahmed. The last great strike: Little Steel, the CIO, and the struggle for labor rights in New Deal America (U of California Press, 2016) online

• Zieger, Robert H. The CIO, 1935–1955 (1995). online
• Zieger, Robert H. John L. Lewis : labor leader (1988) online

External links

• Media related to Labor history of the United States at Wikimedia Commons
• Labor History Links

v t e Major armed conflicts in American labor union history
19th century	Great Railroad Strike, 1877 Rock Springs massacre, 1885 Bay View massacre, 1886 Haymarket affair, 1886 Thibodaux massacre, 1887 Morewood massacre, 1891 Cotton pickers' strike of 1891 Homestead Strike, 1892 Coeur d'Alene, Idaho labor strike of 1892 Pullman Strike, 1894 Streetcar strikes in the United States, 1895–1929 Lattimer massacre, 1897 Illinois coal wars, 1898–1899
20th century	Streetcar strikes in the United States, 1895–1929 Colorado Labor Wars, 1903–1904 1905 Chicago teamsters' strike 1907 San Francisco streetcar strike Pressed Steel Car strike of 1909 Westmoreland County coal strike of 1910–1911 Paint Creek–Cabin Creek strike of 1912 1913 Ipswich Mills strike Colorado Coalfield War, including the Ludlow Massacre, 1913–1914 Copper Country strike of 1913–1914 Everett massacre, 1916 1920 Alabama coal strike Battle of Matewan, 1920 Battle of Blair Mountain, 1921 Herrin massacre, 1922 Hanapepe massacre, 1924 Columbine Mine massacre, 1927 Harlan County War, 1931–1932 Auto-Lite strike, 1934 West Coast waterfront strike, 1934 Gulf Coast longshoremen's strike, 1935 Memorial Day massacre, 1937 Hilo massacre, 1938 1959 United Mine Workers strike, 1959
Related articles	List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States Union violence in the United States Anti-union violence in the United States List of worker deaths in United States labor disputes
Portal:Organized Labour

• 1935 labor disputes and strikes
• Great Depression in the United States
• History of labor relations in the United States
• Labor history of the United States
• Manufacturing industry labor disputes in the United States
• Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt
• 1930s strikes in the United States