On this day in labor history, the year was 1946.
That was the day 8,000 UAW workers at the Allis-Chalmers plant in Milwaukee voted overwhelmingly to walk off the job.
Close to 12,000 production and maintenance workers were on strike across the country.
Workers rode the post-war strike wave as whole industries moved to peacetime reconversion.
Historian Eric Fure-Slocum notes that UAW Local 248 had a historically militant left-wing leadership, was known for its support to housing desegregation campaigns in the city and was a central driving force of Milwaukee’s CIO Council.
They had built a strong shop steward and grievance structure at Allis-Chalmers and were sure victory was certain.
Local president Robert Buse insisted wage increases were not at issue but rather unresolved issues remained to be settled, now that the war was finally over.
Key points of contention were the company’s demand to eliminate maintenance of membership agreements that guaranteed the closed shop and union dues.
The company also wanted to stop paying stewards for time involved in grievance procedures.
The Allis-Chalmers strike was a harbinger of things to come.
Historian Martin Halpern states that company officials played a significant role in the crafting of Taft-Hartley legislation as the strike unfolded.
Allis-Chalmers was on a union-busting campaign and made no small effort to redbait union leaders for months in local newspapers.
By the fall, workers at the smaller plants had returned to work, but the Milwaukee local stood firm.
Area CIO workers joined picket lines in support only to be brutalized and arrested.
HUAC arrived in town to investigate the strike and the company instigated a vigorous back-to-work campaign.
After eleven months, the strike was called off with no contract and ninety-one union leaders were fired.
May 18 - The TVA Transforms the South
May 17 - Striking for Dignity and Respect
May 16 - Minneapolis Teamsters Lead the Way
May 15 - The Winnipeg General Strike Begins
May 14 - Wobblies On the Waterfront
May 13 - Women Strike Tolteca Foods
May 12 - Of ICE Raids & Union Busting
May 11 - Organizing in the Fields
May 10 - Bankruptcy Bonanza for Big Bankers
May 9 - The Historic ‘34 West Coast Maritime Strike Begins
May 8 - Mary Marcy is Born
May 7 - Popeye The Union Man
May 6 - FDR Rolls Out the WPA
May 5 - The Bay View Massacre
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
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