On this day in labor history, the year was 1970.
That was the day 350,000 GM workers kicked off a 67-day strike.
It was the largest auto strike since the end of World War II.
According to historian Jefferson Cowie, it was likely the costliest.
In his book, Stayin’ Alive, Cowie notes that the strike cost GM a billion dollars in profits and nearly bankrupted the union.
But he adds it “lacked the proletarian drama that fired journalists’ hearts.”
For Cowie, it was an example of labor-management cooperation, “a civilized affair.”
But historian Jeremy Brecher points out that The Wall Street Journal drew different conclusions about the strike at the time.
In a series of articles, the paper noted that labor-management cooperation during the strike served ironically, to get workers back to work.
A long and costly strike served a number of functions.
It wore down strikers’ expectations.
After eight or ten weeks, workers would be amenable to terms they initially rejected.
It also provided an escape valve for built up frustration over working conditions.
And a long strike served to coalesce internal union factions around a common enemy, strengthening the union’s leadership in the process.
For management, a long and costly strike leant hope that workers would be reluctant to strike in the future.
But Brecher notes, these ideas about workers motives nearly backfired.
Strikers simply wouldn’t budge on their demands.
They made gains in wages, pensions and cost of living allowances.
And they were finally able to retire after 30 years.
But critics argued the agreement fell short of initial demands.
And workers lacked more say in the workplace.
This would be a key issue in the many strikes and wildcats in the years to come.
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
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