United States 1936

Synopsis

The Goodyear Strike of February and March 1936 in Akron, Ohio, was an unplanned protest that demonstrated the potential of organized labor in the mass production industries of that era. The strike was a consequence of improving economic conditions and efforts by Goodyear managers to eliminate policies, especially the six-hour day, that they had introduced during the depressed years of the early 1930s. Worker protests against such changes led to sit-down strikes, another product of the depression era, and finally a full-scale strike starting on 18 February. The strikers successfully mobilized allies in and out of the labor movement and countered efforts by the company, the company union, city officials, and the business community to break the strike. The ultimate settlement, approved on 21 March, addressed the workers' grievances but did not formally recognize the union. Nevertheless, it was a significant victory for organized labor, an...