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.
January 11 - Battle of the Running Bulls
January 10 - The Rise of Settlement Houses
January 9 - Courts Stand Against Workers
January 8 - Oil Workers Walk Out Across the Country
January 7 - Tragic Youngstown Massacre
January 6 - Remembering Ida Tarbell
January 5 - Ohio First to Enact Black Laws
January 4 - Standing Up by Sitting Down
January 3 - The Power of Folded Arms and Marching Feet
January 2 - A Nation Fed Up, Strikes Back
January 1 - Transit Workers Push Back
December 31 - The Fight for Safer Working Conditions
December 30 - The Day Mines Were Made Safer
December 29 - The Day Work Was Made Safer
December 28 - Heroes in Space
December 27 - Musicians Fight Back
December 26 - Garment Workers Rise Up
December 25 - Debs Released; Real Gift is His Message
December 24 - A Christmas Eve Beating for Striking Workers
December 23 - The High Cost of Low Wages
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