Word: l
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...York City, in Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, WPAsters who belonged to unions-mostly in the building and allied trades, mostly A. F. of L.-walked off their jobs. In some places they quit spontaneously, in most they were called off by their union officials. Twenty thousand, 50,000, 75,000, daily the number of strikers rose throughout the nation. In their own minds, the men were protesting against their longer working hours. Actually, their leaders were trying to coerce Congress by direct action to correct a situation which they thought would provide an argument for employers in private industry (especially building...
...issue focused sharply in New York City, where 30,000 of the 32,000 skilled workers on WPA rolls were union men. Thomas A. Murray, president of the Building & Construction Trades Council (A. F. of L.), officially authorized the walkout and declaimed...
...Washington, the C. I. 0. (which embraces fewer unions in occupations assisted by WPA) rushed to the support of A. F. of L. with a blast warning Congress to amend the new law. The Workers Alliance, whose membership is largely dependent on WPA, jumped for joy on the sidelines, being for once the prospective beneficiaries, though not the authors, of a revolt in WPA. Violence grew. In Minneapolis a policeman was killed in a row between pickets and nonstriking WPAsters. As skilled unionists walked out, WPA projects came to a halt and unskilled workers were idle willy-nilly...
Brunt of the battle fell, of course, upon A. F. of L.'s President William Green, who had failed to act when the bill was before Congress. He now called a meeting in Washington of all his union presidents to put on belated heat. Cried he: "A vital principle is at stake. The wage standards of organized labor, built up through years of sacrifice, suffering and collective bargaining, are threatened . . . strikes and strikes...
...whole subtle strike purpose. What union label would he prefer? The C. I. 0. label, of course. But not all G. M. workers are C. I. 0. unionists by any means. And the split of United Automobile Workers into a C. I. 0. and an A. F. of L. faction occurred after G. M.'s present contract with U. A. W. was negotiated. Walter Reuther, declared the company, was making demands and calling strikes at this critical time simply to clinch the superiority of C. I. 0. over A. F. of L. in the G. M. sector...