On this day in Labor History the year was 1945.
That was a day known as in Hollywood “Black Friday.”
After World War II, the movie industry began to rake in profits.
But they did not pass those on to their employees.
10,000 members of the Conference of Studio Unions, were on strike.
They were part of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners.
They were also in a jurisdictional battle with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, or IATSE, over who should represent set decorators.
The strike wore on for half a year.
The studios had more than 100 films backlogged, and were able to wait out the strikers.
But as the strike continued, and the studios remained silent, pressure mounted.
Despite the tensions between the two unions, thousands of IATSE members refused to cross the picket lines.
On “Black Friday” the strikers decided to concentrate their efforts at the Warner Brothers Studio gate.
300 picketers gathered to hold the line.
Scabs hired by Warner Brothers tried to drive through the worker’s pickets lines to the studio.
Variety accounted what happened next. “Strikers deployed from their barricades, halted the non-strikers and rolled three automobiles on their sides. By noon reinforcements arrived from both sides.”
Firemen were called in to turn their hoses on the striking workers.
Warner Brothers security deployed tear gas.
Common for the time accusations were hurled that the Conference of Studio Unions strikers were communists.
As a result of the strike, the Conference of Studio Unions employees were assigned to other jobs in the studios.
When they refused, they were locked out.
The union never recovered.
The violence at the Warner Brothers gate also helped to fuel the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act through congress, which eroded union protections.
March 6 - International Unemployed Day
March 5 -Lordstown Syndrome
March 4 - Mismanagement Kills an Airline
March 3 - Wildcat Strikes Hit Chrysler and Briggs
March 2 - Greyhound Bus Strike Begins
March 1 - The Hoover Dam Goes Public
February 28 - Fighting for Equal Pay
February 27 - The 1937 Woolworth Sit-Down
February 26 - The Battle at Bethlehem
February 25 - The Paterson Silk Strike Begins
February 24 - Muller v Oregon Decided
February 23 - Black Workers Lead Historic Strike at UNC
February 22 - Labelling Teachers as Terrorists
February 21 - The First Female Telephone Operator
February 20 - Angelina Grimke is Born
February 19 - Philly Street Car Workers Spark General Strike
February 18 - Anti-Slavery Begins in America
February 17 - Standing Up By Sitting Down
February 16 - The Wisconsin Uprising Begins
February 15 - The Uprising of the 20,000 Comes to a Close
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