On this day in labor history, the year was 1941.
That was the day “The Battle at Bethlehem” began. 14,000 workers at Bethlehem Steel’s Lackawanna Mill in Buffalo, N.Y., walked out on strike.
The Steel Workers Organizing Committee, or SWOC, had been fighting to organize Little Steel for years.
‘Little Steel’ was a general term that referred to the smaller mills like Republic, Inland, Bethlehem and Youngstown Sheet & Tube.
At Bethlehem, SWOC was still waiting on a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals about the company union Bethlehem refused to give up, in defiance of the Wagner Act.
As a defense industry, Bethlehem had $1.5 billion worth of armament orders to fill.
And yet, they wouldn’t even pay the legal minimum wage mandated for government contracts.
Retired steel worker, Mitchell Scheffer recalled in a 1991 interview, "I went to work there in the late 1930s swinging a 20-pound sledgehammer to break iron billets," says the 81-year-old. "I got 40 cents an hour, six days a week, no vacations"
The last straw was when Bethlehem fired over 1000 workers.
Bethlehem claimed these particular workers damaged coke ovens when they engaged in a work stoppage.
Workers immediately formed solid picket lines at seven gates that stretched two miles.
They successfully beat back attempts by police to scab herd.
After 38 hours, Bethlehem quickly agreed to reinstate the 1000 workers.
They soon resumed talks regarding wage increases, grievance procedures and union recognition.
But a month later, Bethlehem decided to go back on their promises.
They started organizing elections for collective bargaining representatives through their company union.
The stage was set for the next big strike at Bethlehem in March that would finally win union recognition.
May 4 - UE Beats Back HUAC in Dayton
May 3 - First Workers Compensation Law is Passed
May 2 - Our Thing is DRUM!
May 1 - Mayday Marchers Attacked in Cleveland
April 30 - Refinery Workers Walk Off the Job
April 29 - Allis-Chalmers and the Road to Taft-Hartley
April 28 - OSHA Goes Into Effect
April 27 - Disaster in West Virginia
April 26 - National Guard Ousts Montgomery Ward CEO
April 25 - UAW Mobilizes Against Taft-Hartley
April 24 - The California Spinach Riot
April 23 - Sitting Down for Dignity at Ford
April 22 - The Red Jacket Mine Explosion
April 21 - The Hated Taylor Law Takes Effect
April 20 - Deepwater Horizon Explosion Kills 11
April 19 -The Daughters of Mother Jones
April 18 - We Have Fed You All A thousand Years
April 17 - Fatal Explosion in West, Texas
April 16 - Jacob Coxey is Born
April 15 - Telephone Girls Cripple New England Bell
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
Summarize | رادیو سامرایز
LifeBlood
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast