12 APR--This Day in US Military History

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 10:12:00 -0400

12 APR--This Day in US Military History

1934 – The U.S. Auto-Lite Strike begins, culminating in a five-day melee between Ohio National Guard troops and 6,000 strikers and picketers.

The Toledo Auto-Lite strike was a strike by a federal labor union of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) against the Electric Auto-Lite company of Toledo, Ohio, to June 3, 1934. The strike is notable for a five-day running battle between strikers and the Ohio National Guard.
Known as the “Battle of Toledo,” the clash left two strikers dead and more than 200 injured. The strike is regarded by many labor historians as one of the three most important strikes in U.S. history.
The enactment of the National Industrial Recovery Act on June 16, 1933, had led to widespread union organizing in the United States. On March 4, the four automotive unions voted to strike unless management recognized their union, instituted a 20 percent wage increase and reinstated all workers fired for union activity. AFL President, William Green, committed to labor peace and fearful that the unions were too weak to withstand a strike, attempted to persuade them to rescind the strike notice. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, worried that an auto strike would harm the chances for economic recovery during the Great Depression, offered to negotiate a settlement. Roosevelt ordered the National Labor Board to hear the workers’ grievances, and the unions postponed the strike.
Federal Labor Union 18384 had been organized differently than other automotive unions. It was a multi-employer union, and its members belonged not only to the Electric Auto-Lite Company but also to the Bingham Stamping and Tool Company and the Logan Gear Company (both subsidiaries of Electric Auto-Lite) as well as the Spicer Manufacturing Company. Because of this diverse membership, workers at one employer could strike and the union would remain financially solvent. This encouraged militancy among it’s members, and on February 23, 1934, the Auto-Lite members engaged in a recognition strike and attempted to win a 10 percent wage increase. Nearly all members at Auto-Lite walked out. The strike lasted only five days. The employees returned to work after management agreed to a 5 percent wage increase and to negotiate a contract by April 1, 1934. These negotiation broke down and the union struck again. This time only a quarter of members walked out–the strike was collapsing.
The American Workers Party immediately entered the strike on the union’s behalf. The American Workers Party (AWP) had been formed in 1933 from the Conference for Progressive Labor Action by A.J. Muste, a Dutch minister and Marxist. A courtroom melee of injunctions, violations, and arrests would follow for better than a month.

https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/04/12/april-12/

April 12

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Response by Col Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2015 10:21 AM

Col Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 10:21:00 -0400

Thanks for sharing! I didn't realize that this event sparked the Union growth across the country.