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U N IT E D S T A T E S D E P A R T M E N T O F L A B O R
F ra n ces P erk in s, Secretary
B U R E A U O F L A B O R S T A T IS T IC S
Isad or L u b in , Com m issioner (o n lea v e)
A . F . H in rich s, A ctin g Commissioner
+
Strikes in 1941
and
Strikes A ffecting Defense Production
P rep a red b y th e
D IV IS IO N O F IN D U S T R IA L R E L A T IO N S
F L O R E N C E P E T E R S O N , C hief
Bulletin
{Reprinted from the M onthly
L abor R eview ,
711
May 1942, with additional data}
U N IT E D S T A T E S
G O V E R N M E N T P R IN T IN G O FFIC E
W A S H IN G T O N : 1942
F or sale b y th e S u p erin ten d en t o f D ocu m en ts, W a sh in g ton , D . C .
P rice 10 ce n ts
CONTENTS
Strikes in 1941:
Summary__________________________________________________________
Strikes by months_________________________________________________
Industries affected-----------------------------------------------------------------------States affected_____________________________________________________
Cities affected_____________________________________________________
Workers involved__________________________________________________
Sex of workers_____________________________________________________
Establishments involved-----------------------------------------------------------------Duration of strikes------------------------------------------------------------------------Labor organizations involved----------------------------------------------------------Causes of strikes______ ____________________________________________
Results of strikes__________________________________________________
Methods of negotiating settlements-------------------------------------------------Major strikes in 1941______________________________________________
Strikes affecting defense production (June 1940 to December 7, 1941)____
Definition of “ defense strikes” _____________________________________
Trend of defense strikes-----------------------------------------------------------------Industries affected_________________________________________________
Duration_________________________________
Major issues involved______________________________________________
Results____________________________________________________________
Methods of negotiating settlements_________________________________
Appendix:
Methods used in collecting and analyzing strike statistics---------------Strikes in 1941, by industry and major issues involved-------------------Strikes in 1941, in States which had 25 or more strikes during the
year, by industry group--------------------------------------------------------------ii
Pa^e
1
4
6
7
10
11
13
13
14
15
16
18
22
22
27
27
28
30
30
31
34
35
36
37
42
Letter of Transmittal
U nited States D epartment of L abor ,
B ureau of L abor Statistics ,
Washington , D . C., M ay 25 ,
The S ecretary of L abor :
I have the honor to transm it herewith a statistical report on strikes
in the U nited States in 1941, prepared under the direction of Florence
Peterson, Chief of the D ivision of Industrial Relations. T he report
was under the im m ediate supervision of D on Q . Crowther. Alexander
J. M orin prepared the section on strikes affecting defense production.
A . F . H inrichs , Acting Commissioner.
H on. F rances P erkins ,
Secretary o f Labor.
iii
PREFACE
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has collected and published statistics
on strikes since 1914. N o Federal agency obtained inform ation on
strikes during the 8 years between 1906 and 1913. Previously, from
1881 to 1905, the Commissioner of Labor collected strike data. In
the Bureau’s Bulletin N o . 651: Strikes in the United States, 1880-1936 ,
are included all the strike data available for these years. Since 1936
annual reports of strikes have appeared in each M a y issue of the
M onthly Labor Review and are available, upon request, in pam phlet
form .
U nfortunately, the strike statistics for the years previous to 1927
are quite incom plete. N o m an-days’ idleness figures were obtained
and the number of workers involved in some of the strikes is not
known. M on th ly and industry data are not available for a portion
of the strikes, and for m any there is no inform ation as to causes,
results, etc. D ue to this incompleteness only lim ited comparisons
can be m ade, for instance, between recent strike activity and that
taking place during the first W orld W ar.
This bulletin contains an analysis of all strikes occurring during the
calendar year 1941, and is similar to the former annual reports. There
is, in addition, a report on strikes which affected defense production
during the 18-m onth period from June 1940, when the first emergency
legislation was enacted, to the outbreak of war on Decem ber 7, 1941.
The strikes referred to as “ defense” strikes are those which the Labor
D ivision of the Office of Production M anagem ent found, after inves
tigation, to have interfered with or delayed defense production. H ow
ever, the number of workers and the m an-days of idleness in each
case are the number involved for the entire strike even though only
a portion of the workers who stopped work m ay have been engaged on
defense production when the strike took place.
CHART I
TREND OF STRIKES, 1916-1941
1935 - 3 9 • IOO
INDEX
INOEX
4 0 0 |-------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
C
Bulletin 7\[o. 711 o f the
U nited States Bureau o f Labor Statistics
[Reprinted from the M onthly L abor R e v ie w , May 1942, with additional data]
Strikes in 1941
Sum m ary
Strike activity during the first 11 m onths of 1941 was at a rela
tively high level, as is usual in a year of rapidly expanding industrial
a ctiv ity , increasing em ploym ent, and rapidly rising living costs.
T h e number of strikes in 1941 (4,288) was exceeded only in 1937 and
1917; the number of workers involved in strikes (2,362,620) was
greater than in any year except 1919; and the am ount of idleness
during strikes (23,047,556 m an-days) was exceeded in recent years
only in 1937 and 1927. N o inform ation on the am ount of idleness
during strikes is available for years prior to 1927.
One employed worker out of every 12 was involved in a strike
a t some tim e during the year. This proportion (8.4 percent) was
exactly the same in 1941 as in 1916, the year preceding the entry of
the United States into the first W orld W ar. B oth the numbers of
workers employed and the numbers involved in strikes were, naturally,
much larger in 1941 than in 1916.
Those workers who were involved in 1941 strikes were idle for an
average of about 10 days. A s a result, there were 23,000,000 m andays of idleness during strikes in 1941. T his total is equal to sub
stantially less than 1 day per employed worker. Ignoring substi
tution of skills and thinking purely in terms of working tim e, it could
be said th at by working on one holiday that is ordinarily observed,
the working force of the N ation could more than m ake up for the
idleness resulting from strikes in the entire year.
Idleness during strikes in 1941 amounted to about one-third of 1
percent of the available working tim e during the year. T he impor
tance of strikes in any period, however, goes far beyond the direct
loss of tim e by the m en involved, because strikes in strategic industries,
if not settled quickly, m ay have far-reaching effects on our whole
production system by shutting off the flow of im portant materials,
or power, or semifinished products. I t is im possible, for lack of
detailed inform ation, to measure these secondary losses and inter
ruptions.
W ith the outbreak of war on Decem ber 7 several strikes then in
progress were im m ediately called off and several threatened strikes,
even where strike votes had been taken, were canceled. Labor
organizations in numerous localities passed resolutions pledging full
support to the Governm ent and in m any cases promised that there
should be no strikes interfering with the production of war m aterials.
1
2
ST R IK E S IK
1941
T a ble 1.— Strikes in the United States9 1881 to 1941
Number of—
Year
Strikes
Workers in
volved *
Index (1935-39-100)
Man-days
idle
Strikes
Percent of
total
workers1
2
Workers Man-days involved
involved
idle
in strikes
1881................................
1882................................
1883...............................
1RR4
______
1885................................
1886 ..............................
477
476
506
485
695
1,572
130,176
158,802
170,275
165,175
258,129
610,024
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
12
14
15
15
23
54
(*)
(3)
(3)
(s)
(3 )
17
17
18
17
24
55
1RR7
IflRR
1RRQ
iRpn
439,306
162,880
260,290
373,499
329,953
238,685
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
53
33
39
66
62
47
39
14
23
33
29
21
(3)
1RQ9
1,503
'946
1, 111
l ' 897
1,786
1,359
1893................................
1R<U
1RQK
1896
___
1RQ7
1898................................
1,375
$404
•i; 255
1,066
$ 110
$098
287, 756
690,044
407,188
248,838
416,154
263,219
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
48
49
44
37
39
38
26
61
36
22
37
23
3.2
8.3
4.4
2.8
4.3
2.6
1RQ9
1900................................
1901................................
1902................................
1903................................
1904................................
1,838
$839
$012
3,240
3,648
2,419
431,889
567,719
563,843
691,507
787,834
573,815
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
64
64
105
113
127
85
38
50
50
61
70
51
3.9
4.9
4. 6
5.4
5.9
4.3
1905. .............................
1906-13 .........................
1914....... ........................
1915..............- ................
19161...........- ......... ........
1917...............................
2,186
<8)
1,204
1,593
3,789
4,450
302,434
76
(3)
1,599,917
1,227,254
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
42
56
132
155
27
(3)
(3)
(3)
142
109
1918-._...........................
101Q
1920--.............................
1921................................
1922............- ................
1923-..............................
3,353
3,630
3,411
2,385
1,112
1,553
1,239,989
4,160,348
1,463,054
1,099,247
1,612, 562
756,584
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
117
127
119
83
39
54
110
370
130
98
143
67
6.2
20.8
7.2
6.4
8. 7
3.5
1924--. .........................
1925...............................
1926................................
1927-.............................
1928....... ........................
1929-.............................
1,249
1,301
1,035
707
604
921
654,641
428,416
329,592
329,939
314,210
288, 572
(3)
(3)
(3)
26,218,628
12,631,863
5,351, 540
44
45
36
25
21
32
58
38
29
29
28
26
155
75
32
3.1
2.0
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.2
1930................................
1931................................
1932................................
1933................................
1934...............................
1935................................
637
810
841
1,695
1,856
2,014
182, 975
341,817
324,210
1,168,272
1,466,695
1,117,213
3, 316,808
6,893,244
10, 502,033
16,872,128
19,591,949
15,456,337
22
28
29
59
65
70
16
30
29
104
130
99
20
41
62
100
116
91
.8
1.6
1.8
6.3
7.2
5.2
1936................................
1937................................
1938................................
1939-..............................
1940................................
1941................................
2,172
4,740
2,772
2,613
2,508
4,288
788,648
1,860,621
688,376
1,170,962
576,988
2,362,620
13,901,956
28,424,857
9,148,273
17,812,219
6,700,872
23,047,556
76
166
97
91
88
150
70
165
61
104
51
210
82
168
54
105
40
136
3.1
7.2
2.8
4.7
2.3
8.4
(3 )
(3)
(3)
(3 )
(3 )
(3)
(3)
4.2
3.6
2. 5
2.1
(3)
(3)
(3)
*
8.4
6.3
1 The number of workers involved in some strikes which occurred between 1916 and 1926 is not known.
However, the missing information is for the smaller disputes and it is believed that the totals here given
are fairly accurate.
2 “ Total workers” as used here includes all workers except those in occupations and professions where
strikes rarely if ever occur. In general, the term “ total workers” includes all employees except the following
groups: Government workers, agricultural wage earners on farms employing less than 6, managerial and sup
ervisory employees, and certain groups which because of the nature of their work cannot or do not strike,
such as college professors, commercial travelers, clergymen, and domestic servants. Self-employed and un
employed persons are, of course, excluded.
3N o information available.
CHART 2
466389'
PERCENT OF WORKERS INVOLVED IN STRIKES
1916 -1941
PERCENT
PERCENT
25
20
1941
10
ST R IK E S IN
15
5-
1
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920 1921
1922 1923
1924 1925
1926 1927 1928
1929 1930
1931
1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937
1938 1939
1940 1941
1942 1943 1944 1945
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
CO
4
ST R IK E S IX
1941
In the m onth of Decem ber there were 143 new strikes involving
29,555 workers. Idleness during all strikes in the m onth amounted
to 476,471 m an-days. During the first 7 days of the m onth, before
the outbreak of war, 59 (41 percent) of the 143 strikes occurred,
in volvin g 13,463 (46 percent) of the total workers, and the strike
idleness during this period am ounted to 173,159 m an-days (36 per
cent of the to ta l). In the remaining 24 days of Decem ber there were
84 new strikes, involving 16,092 workers, and the idleness during
strikes amounted to 303,312 m an-days.
Strikes b y M onths
O nly in a very general way can strikes be said to have any usual
seasonal trend. H ow ever, in recent years strikes have tended to
increase from the beginning of the year to a peak, usually in A pril or
M a y , then to decline through the midsummer m onths, increasing
again to another peak about Septem ber, after which they quite con
sistently taper off to an all-year low in Decem ber.
T he 1941 strikes followed this general pattern. T he peak of ac
tiv ity was reached in A pril, when the general bitum inous-coal strike
was in progress, and there was another high period of activity in the
fall. In fact, the number of strikes was greater in Septem ber than in
the spring m onths, although the number of workers involved and
m an-days idle were much greater in April than in any other m onth,
as a result of the coal strike. T he range in num ber of strikes begin
ning in the various m onths of 1941 was from 470 in Septem ber to
143 in D ecem ber; the range in number of workers involved in new
strikes was from 511,570 m April to 29,555 in D ecem ber; and the
range in m an-days idle was from 7,112,742 in A pril to 476,471 in
D ecem ber.
T a b l e 2.— Strikes in 1940 and 1941 , b y M onths
Number of strikes
Month
Beginning in
month
1940
1941
Y e a r _________
2,508
4,28&
January...............
February-...........
M arch.................
April...................
M a y ..................
June.....................
J u ly ...................
August.................
September...........
October..............
November...........
December....... .
128
172
178
228
239
214
244
231
253
267
207
147
240
257
348
403
463
357
439
465
470
432
271
143
Number of workers involved in strikes
In progress
during
month
1940
1941
222
270
295
336
361
336
390
394
394
419
373
277
349
388
499
592
669
571
635
698
687
664
464
287
Beginning in
month
1940
1941
In progress during
month
1940
1941
41,284
38,050
43,231
53,119
77,124
56,403
82,970
90,226
108,389
107,863
101,532
61,576
109,868
127,932
179,118
567,477
419,829
227,145
226,455
304,526
358,399
348,109
339,479
59,022
576,988 2,362,620
26,937
29,509
22,433
39,481
53,231
38,542
63,126
61,356
65,362
71,997
62,399
42,615
91,897
71,875
118,271
511,570
321,485
142,689
142,969
211,515
295, 270
197,803
227,721
29,555
Man-days idle dur
ing month
1940
1941
6,700,872 23,047, 556
246,674
289,992
386,981
441,866
665,688
484,007
585,651
706,308
780,570
915,014
739,807
458,314
663,185
1,134,531
1,558,457
7,112,742
2,172,303
1,504,056
1,325, 758
1,825,488
1,952,652
1,925,328
1,396,585
476,471
S T R IK E S IN
5
1941
CHART 5
num ber
STRIKES EACH MONTH IN 1940 AND 1941
COMPARED WITH PRE-DEFENSE
5-YEAR AVERAGES
STRIKES
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OP LABOR
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS__________
num ber
6
STRIKES IN
1941
Industries Affected
The greatest concentration of strikes in 1941, as measured in terms
of num ber of workers involved and the resulting idleness, was in coal
m ining where there were several m ajor strikes during the year. In
the bitum inous-coal industry there was the general wage strike in
A p ril, involving about 318,000 workers, and in Septem ber the strike
of 53,000 workers in captive mines over the union-shop issue, which
finally brought about a sym pathy strike in N ovem ber of 115,000
workers in commercial m ines. In addition, there were two State-w ide
strikes of Alabam a coal miners in Septem ber and October, and a short
strike of Illinois miners in A pril. In the anthracite m ining industry
there was a 1-day wage strike of more than 90,000 workers in M a y ,
and in Septem ber a strike of about 25,000 workers protesting an in
crease in union dues. The total workers involved in individual strikes
in the m ining industries exceeded the estim ated average em ploym ent
in those industries, because m ost of the miners were on strike at some
tim e, and some of them were on strike more than once, during the year.
T he idleness during strikes in the m ining industries in 1941 amounted
to 4 .5 2 percent of the available working tim e, whereas in no other
industry group did it am ount to as much as 1 percent.
N early one-third (31 percent) of the total workers involved in strikes
and a similar proportion of the total idleness during 1941 were in the
m ining industries. N early 17 percent of all workers involved in
strikes and 10 percent of the idleness were in the transportation-equip
m ent m anufacturing industries. The iron and steel industries had
about 10 percent of the total workers involved but only 6 percent of
the total idleness. A bou t 8 percent of the total workers involved were
in the building and construction industry, but their strikes were shorter
than the average and accounted for only 4 percent of the total idleness.
W ith the exception of the m ining industries, the greatest proportion
of the em ployed workers involved m strikes in any industry group was
39 percent m transportation-equipm ent m anufacturing. A b ou t 27
percent of the rubber-industry workers were involved in strikes at
som e tim e during the year, 20 percent of the workers in iron and steel,
12 percent in the nonferrous m etals and the stone, clay, and glass
products industries, and 11 percent in building and construction.
Strike figures for the various industry groups are given in table 3,
T able 22 (p. 37) gives inform ation for individual industries in much
greater detail.
S T R IK E S IX
7
1941
T ab le 3.— Strikes in 1941 , by Industry Groups
Workers in
volved
Num
ber of
Per
strikes
begin
cent of
ning in Number
em
1941
ployed i
work
ers
Industry group
‘Man-days idle
during 1941
Number
Per
cent of
avail
able
work
ing
tim e3
8.4
23,047,556
M anufacturing______________________________________ *2,646 1,272,823
12.6
Iron and steel and their products, not including
machinery_____________________________________
20.4
243,749
332
Machinery, not including transportation equip
ment
_ .
__
8.7
128,407
286
Transportation equipment____
_ . ......
394,056
39.0
185
Nonferrons metals and their products
_ _ _
43.740
12.4
129
___
. . . . . .
Lumber and allied products
67.740
9.7
286
Stone, clay, and glass products____________________
39,694
11.8
136
Textiles and their products....... ............................. .....
7.9
144,769
507
Leather and its manufactures
_
92
8.8
27,883
Pood and kindred products
7.6
69,782
261
9.5
Tobacco manufactures___________________________
8,517
10
Paper and printing
. _
3.0
19,494
137
88
4.6
Chemicals and allied products____________________
21,411
Rubber products_______________________________
42
27.1
39,237
Miscellaneous manufacturing
24,344
161
(4)
Nonmanufacturing:
Extraction of minerals____________________________
143 *737,302 * 105.6
Transportation and communication_______________
268
50.406
(4)
4)
421
50,779
Trade........................... - ...............................................
29,022
227
Domestic and personal service—- __________________
(4)
Professional service______________________________
29
2,128
(4)
11.2
Building and construction________________________
395
186,473
32
Agriculture and fishing___________________________
14.406
(4)
W P A and relief projects ___ . . . . . .
5
188
(4)
(4 )
Other nonmannfactnring industries. _ _ _ _. _,.
124
19,093
12,465,065
.49
1,442,253
.47
AJ1 industries_______________________________________
3 4,288 2,362,620
0.32
2,213,911
2,294,136
413,301
1,323,550
655,646
1,683,568
219,876
988,457
106,246
324,567
315,581
155.099
328,874
.49!
.89
.46
.75
.76
.36
.27
.42
.46
.20
.27
.42
(4)
7,226,061
425.099
1,034,312
303,790
47,632
923,216
494,037
3,859
124,485
4.52
(4)
4)
(4)
(4)
.22
(4)
(4)
(4 )
* “ Employed workers” as used here includes all workers except those in occupations and professions
where strikes rarely, if ever, occur. In general, the term “ total workers” includes all employees except the
following groups: Government workers, agricultural wage earners on farms employing less than 6, man
agerial and supervisory employees, and certain groups which because of the nature of their work cannot
or do not strike, such as college professors, commercial travelers, clergymen, and domestic servants. Selfemployed and unemployed persons are, of course, excluded.
* “ Available working time” was estimated for purposes of this table by multiplying the total employed
workers in each industry or group by the number of days worked by most employees in the respective indus
try or group.
* This figure is less than the sum of the figures below. This is due to the fact that the general strike ot
machinists in the St. Louis area, November 24-26, has been counted as a separate strike in each industry
affected with the proper allocation of number of workers involved and man-days idle.
4 Not available.
* Several thousand coal miners were involved in more than one strike during the year. Consequently,
the'sum of the workers involved in individual strikes was greater than the number employed in the industry,
States Affected
There were strikes in all States of the Union and in the D istrict of
Colum bia during 1941.
The range in number of strikes by States
was from 3 in W yom ing to 763 in New Y ork . N ew Y ork State had
more strikes than any other, but Pennsylvania and M ichigan each
had more workers involved in strikes than N ew Y ork . Pennsylvania
was the only State having more strike idleness than N ew Y ork.
There were more than 100 strikes in each of 10 States during the
year. In addition to New Y ork they were Pennsylvania (545),
California (384), Ohio (341), N ew Jersey (264), M ichigan^ (2 5 2 ),
Illinois (226), M assachusetts (175), Indiana (161), and M issouri (119).
N early 21 percent of the total workers involved and 18 percent of
the total idleness during strikes in 1941 were in Pennsylvania; M ichi
gan had 14 percent of the total workers involved and 8 percent of the
00
CHART 4.
PERCENT OF TOTAL WORKERS INVOLVED IN STRIKES
1941
W to
ST R IK E S IX
SR.I.
CONN.
1941
0
LESS THAN 1 %
m
1% AND LESS THAN 2 %
E3
2%
AND LESS THAN 3 %
3%
AND LESS THAN 4 %
a
4%
AND LESS THAN 9 %
■
9%
OR MORE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
T9292T
STR IK E S IN
9
1941
idleness; N ew Y ork had nearly 9 percent of the workers involved and
the sam e percent of the total idleness; Ohio and W est Virginia each
had about 7 percent of the total workers involved, but Ohio had 6
percent of the total idleness while W est Virginia had 8 percent.
T a b le 4.— Strikes in 1941 , by States
State
All States................ .....................................
Alabama
__
Arizona __
_ _
Arkansas__________________ ____ _______
California_____ _______________ _____ ___
... .......
,
Colorado
■Connecticut.___________________________
Delaware____ ______ ____ ______________
District of Columbia____________________
Florida..........................................................
Georgia...........•_____ ____________________
Idaho____ _____________________________
Illinois..........................................................
Indiana.......................... ..............................
Iowa__________________________________
Kansas_____________ _____ _____________
Kentucky....... ............................... ............
Louisiana____ _______________ _________
Maine............................... ...........................
Maryland_____________________________
Massachusetts___ ______ ____ _____ _____
Michigan.......................................................
Minnesota....................................................
Mississippi....................................................
Missouri.................................»___ ________
Montapa................................... ................ __
Nebraska___ __________________________
Nevada........................ ............................. .
New Hampshire_______________ ________
New Jersey.................. ................................
New Mexico___ ________________ _____
New York........................ ...........................
North Carolina_________________________
North Dakota__________ ______ _________
Ohio............................... ............... ..............
Oklahoma..... .............. ................. ..............
Oregon.............................. ...........................
Pennsylvania........ ......................................
Rhode Island..............................................
South Carolina.............................................
South Dakota__________________________
Tennessee_____________________ ________
'Texas____ ____ _______ ____ ______
___
Utah........................................... ..................
Vermont___
________ __________ __
Virginia__________ ______________ ____
Washington____________________________
"West Virginia.............................. ...............
Wisconsin______ _____ _________________
Wyoming____ ______ ____________ ______
Number of
strikes
beginning
in 1941
14,288
80~
14
30
384
10
84
14
21
33
32
8
226
161
49
19
53
47
23
66
175
252
47
11
119
7
5
6
13
264
11
763
34
7
341
16
51
545
39
17
5
85
55
13
6
39
60
57
65
3
Workers involved
Number
2,362,620
112,486
2,940
7,063
114,134
5,727
33,616
4,639
2,560
7,354
6,977
342
110,946
80,311
10,225
3,174
72,486
6,962
6,258
37,186
57,415
333,571
7,459
6,073
51,420
217
289
1,007'
3,233
91,292
3,166
204,284
18,731
363
164,294
826
6,990
488,498
8,888
5,135
325
34,661
11,840
2,805
804
17,151
35,694
162,957
17,450
396
Percent of
total
Man-days idle during
1941
Number
Percent of
total
100.0
23,047,556
100.0
IF
.1
.3
4.8
.2
1.4
.2
.1
.3
.3
861,891
17,498
64,272
1,793,907
57,555
272,903
46,129
21,129
43,014
98,520
10,502
1,590,783
657,154
220,047
19,374
773,287
55,610
44,100
207,151
529,830
1,897,649
98,880
22,144
314,232
6,589
3,929
4,077
16,328
1,058,308
26,540
2,171,937
105,085
3,138
1,312,970
20,986
201,002
4,136,738
87,854
14,486
6,132
564,871
129,365
44,284
14,964
223,201
706,877
1,944,419
521,315
4,600
3 7
.1
.3
7.8
.2
1.2
.2
.1
.2
.4
^ 4.7
3.4
.4
.1
3.1
.3
.3
1.6
2.4
14.2
.3
.3
2.2
(i)
(’ )
(*)
.1
3.9
.1
8.6
.8
(*)
7.0
G)
.3
20.9
.4
.2
(*)
1.5
.5
.1
(3)
.7
1.5
6.9
.7
(2)
(*)
(*)
(3)
(*)
6.9
2.9
1.0
.1
3.4
.2
.2
.9
2.3
8.2
.4
.1
1.4
.1
4.6
.1
9.4
.5
(*)
* 5.7
.1
.9
17.7
.4
.1
(*)
2.5
.6
.2
.1
1.0
3.1
8.4
2.3
(2)
1The sum of this column is more than 4,288. This is due to the fact that 94 strikes which extended across
‘State lines have been counted/in this table, as separate strikes in each State affected, with the proper alloca
tion of number of workers involved and man-days idle.
* Less than a tenth of 1 percent.
T he proportions of em ployed workers in each State involved in
strikes during the year ranged from 0.2 percent in M ontan a and
Nebraska to 46 percent of the working force in W est Virginia. (See
chart 4 .) I t should be explained that in this com putation each
worker involved in two or more strikes during the year is counted as
a separate worker involved in each strike. T he figure for W est
Virginia is misleading if this is not clearly understood, because the
10
S T R IK E S IN
1941
m ajority of the workers involved in W est Virginia strikes were coal
miners who were out at two different tim es. T he same difficulty
m ay be present, to some extent, in com puting the percentage of
em ployed workers involved in strikes for other States. In spite of
this qualification, such percentages have a very definite significance
in m easuring the im portance of strike activity, whether the total
workers involved are different workers on strike ju st once during the
year, or whether they are groups of workers on strike two or m ore
tim es during the year.
In 7 States less than 1 percent of the em ployed workers were
involved in strikes during the year.
In 8 States the proportion of
em ployed workers involved was 1 but less than 2 percent, in 7 States
2 but less than 3 percent, in 8 States 3 but less than 4 percent, in
12 States it was 4 but less than 9 percent, in 2 States it was 9 and 10
percent, respectively, and in 5 States it was m ore than 10 percent. In
the latter group, in addition to W est Virginia, m entioned above,
there were Pennsylvania and K entucky with about 19 percent and
M ichigan and A labam a with about 25 percent.
Table 23 (p. 42) shows inform ation for each State having 25 or
more strikes during 1941, by industry group.
Cities Affected
N ew Y ork C ity had more strikes, more workers involved, and m ore
idleness during strikes in 1941 than any other city in the N ation . In
fact, the number of strikes in N ew Y ork C ity (579) was greater than
the combined number of strikes in the 5 next highest cities. Phila
delphia with 141 was next to New Y ork in number of strikes and was
follow ed in order by D etroit (120), Los Angeles (107), and Cleveland
(100). N ext to N ew Y ork , with 150,273 workers involved, came
D earborn, M ich ., with 113,227, D etroit w ith 101,454, and F lin t,
M ich ., and Chicago with a little more than 36,000 each. Cities with
the m ost m an-days idle during strikes were N ew Y ork (1 ,6 5 1 ,0 0 8 ),
D earborn, M ich . (713,402), Chicago (609 ,6 9 7 ), D etroit (5 6 6 ,4 1 2 ),
and Philadelphia (417,726). #
In 1941 there were 71 cities in which 10 or more strikes occurred.
These cities, together with 26 others which had 10 or more strikes in
some year from 1927 to 1940, are shown in table 5. Strikes extending
into 2 or more cities have been counted as separate strikes in each
city affected, with the allocation of workers involved and m an-days
idle among the affected cities as necessary. The figures for a given
city, therefore, m ay include parts of larger intercity strikes.
ST R IK E S IN
11
1941
T a b le 5.— Strikes in 1941 in Cities which had 10 or M ore Strikes in A n y Year From
1927 to 1941
City
Num
ber of
strikes
begin
ning in
1941
Akron, Ohio..............
Allentown, Pa..........
Atlanta, Qa..............
Baltimore, M d .........
Baton Rouge, La___
Bethlehem, Pa.........
Birmingham, Ala___
Boston, Mass---------Bridgeport, Conn—
Buffalo, N. Y ...........
Camden, N. J...........
Canton, Ohio---------Chattanooga, Tenn—
Chicago, 111..... .........
Cincinnati, Ohio......
Cleveland, Ohio.......
Columbus, Ohio____
Dallas, Texas...........
Dayton, Ohio..........
Dearborn, M ich.......
Denver, Colo....... .
Des Moines, Iow a...
Detroit j Mich...........
Duluth, Minn_____
Easton, Pa................
East St. Louis, 111...
Elizabeth, N. J.........
Erie, Pa___________
Evansville, Ind____
Fall River, Mass___
Flint, Mich...............
Fort Smith, Ark-----Fort Wayne, Ind___
Gary, Ina........... —
Hartford, Conn____
Haverhill, Mass.......
Houston, Texas........
Huntington, W. Va..
Indianapolis, Ind---Jersey City, N. J----Kansas City, M o___
Knoxville, Tenn-----Lancaster, P a..........
Long Beach, Calif...
Los Angeles, C alif...
Louisville, K y..........
Lowell, Mass............
Lvnn, Mass..............
Memphis, Tenn.......
Num
ber of
workers
in
volved
11 18,325
7,393
8
4,321
19
40 22)229
805
11
10 14,373
8,768
21
32 12,092
2,487
13
9,869
27
2,940
14
2,116
12
3,492
15
90 36,328
3,543
25
100 36,231
4,124
16
1,322
11
3,074
13
11 113,227
238
5
892
12
120 101,454
375
7
913
2
1,875
7
15
7,491
2,334
10
355
5
12
3,910
9 36,344
1,705
10
13
1,937
12 29,085
9,259
13
2
36
16
1,322
1,503
10
20
2,787
5,277
27
24
3,333
14
8,988
780
3
11
907
107 19,203
3,782
18
9
4,468
10
890
23
2,186
Mandays
idle
during
1941
28,018
72,381
48,170
105,947
8,177
41,544
61,085
146,231
14,464
56,718
43,695
12,016
81,973
609,697
50,658
263,468
36,743
11,129
24,021
713,402
1,184
8,953
566,412
2,476
13,369
4,643
58,427
29,702
4,556
13,565
74,003
28,122
29,949
40,181
93,657
86
28,501
14,258
39,136
82,509
30,853
160,590
6,663
9,988
162,125
32,743
61,532
4,116
22,406
City
Milwaukee, Wis..............
Minneapolis, Minn.........
Mobile, Ala-------1...........
Nashville, Tenn......... .
Newark, N. J ..................
New Bedford, Mass........
New Haven, Conn_____
New Orleans, La.............
New York (Greater).......
Norfolk, Va................ .
Oakland, Calif. (East
Bay area)_______ ____
Paducah, K y ...................
Passaic, N. J...................
Paterson, N. J._..............
Pawtucket, R. I .......... .
Peoria, 111--------- ----------Philadelphia, Pa.............
Pittsburgh, Pa------------Portland, Oreg..... ...........
Providence, R. I..............
Reading, Pa....... ............
Richmond, Va........ ........
Rochester, N. Y ..............
Rockford, 111...................
Saginaw, M ich .............
St. Louis, M o.................
St. Paul, Minn________
San Diego, Calif...........
San Francisco, Calif........
Scranton, P a ..................
Seattle, W ash.................
Shamokin, Pa.................
South Bend, Ind.............
Springfield, H I...............
Springfield, Mass............
Tacoma, Wash................
Terre Haute, Ind............
Toledo, Ohio.................
Trenton, N. J__________
Washington, D. C...........
Waterbury, Conn............
Wausau, Wis...................
Wilkes-Barre, Pa............
Wilmington, Del.............
Woonsocket, R. I............
Worcester, Mass.......... .
York, Pa..........................
Youngstown, Ohio___ —
Num
ber of
strikes
begin
ning in
1941
ManNum
days
ber of
workers idle
during
in
1941
volved
3,012
38,623
28
6,664
74,250
27
5,451
31,274
11
32,981
2,255
11
54,696
6,773
55
52,754
4,716
15
39,771
2,917
13
28,417
3,151
20
579 150,273 1,651,008
3,424
849
11
31
6
3
10
7
8
141
70
19
11
5
10
12
10
8
62
8
,20
44
13
16
4
12
5
8
16
2
27
23
21
1
2
13
11
7
8
9
14
13,083
893
849
2,792
528
2,520
29,844
18,177
2,631
502
800
1,401
2,046
2,186
5,340
32,758
414
6,457
17,529
703
4,209
707
1,539
590
353
6,458
288
3,455
5,863
2,560
158
503
2,257
3,755
1,850
1,152
2,543
3,317
308,913
8,636
10,640
17,008
5,510
19,176
417,726
226,698
145,715
5,911
11,795
15,223
17,002
26,030
12,507
183,616
11,572
24,158
305,247
8,285
35,686
3,480
25,719
11,653
2,907
54,750
8,261
26,988
69,401
21,129
316
13,006
8,822
43,135
23,538
20,620
26,045
12,020
W orkers Involved
In the 4,288 strikes beginning in 1941 the average number of workers
involved was 551. T his average was raised because of a few extremely
large strikes. In fact, in more than 85 percent of the strikes the number
of workers involved was less than the average for all strikes. About
one-sixth of the strikes involved fewer than 20 workers each and more
than half (53 percent) of the strikes involved fewer than 100 workers
each. A bout 40 percent of the strikes involved from 100 up to 1,000
workers each and in 7 percent of the strikes 1,000 or more workers
were involved.
T able 6 shows a classification of the strikes in each industry group,
according to the num ber of workers involved. T he interindustry
strike appearing at the end of the table was the general strike of 9,000
m achinists in the S t. Louis area which occurred in N ovem ber.
466389°— 42------3
12
T
able
STR IK E S IX
1941
6 . — Strikes Beginning in 1941 , fry Num ber o f Workers Involved and Industry
Croup
Industry group
All industries:
N um ber...
Percent___
Aver Number of strikes in which the number of workers
age
involved was—
num
ber
of
Total work
20
6
100
250
500 1,000 5.000
and and and and and and
ers
and 10,000
per under under under under under under under and
strike
100
20
250
500 1,000 5,000 10.000 ‘over
4,288
100.0
551
716
16.7
870
20.3
489
11.4
337
7.9
270
6.3
0.6
25
29
0.7
Manufacturing
Iron, steel, and their products, ex
cluding machinery........................
Machinery, excluding transporta
tion equipment- ..........................
Transportation equipment_______
Nonferrous metals and their prod
ucts........................................... .
Lumber and allied products...........
Stone, clay, and glass products.......
Textiles and their products_______
Leather and its manufactures_____
Food and kindred products......... .
Tobacco manufactures................ .
Paper and printing..........................
Chemicals and allied products____
Rubber products..............................
Miscellaneous manufacturing_____
331
730
14
72
82
67
49
37
5
5
285
184
443
2,128
19
6
102
26
50
30
51
26
37
35
24
45
1
9
1
7
128
285
136
507
92
260
21
30
12
81
8
48
42
111
54
189
35
103
27
84
34
97
15
48
34
18
62
18
26
6
10
8
10
137
87
42
161
341
236
292
286
303
267
852
142
245
934
151
143
5,156
268
420
227
29
395
32
5
123
188
117
128
73
472
450
38
155
10
21
44
13
50
41
8
65
2
20
10
11
6
6
39
9
13
11
6
31
22
28
24
49
143
75
9
83
1
2
32
115
180
92
15
149
15
2
55
66
15
27
14
8
34
8
3
32
34
33
2
1 ...........
1 _____
14
1 ...........
4 .......................
2 ...............
4 _______ _____
3
1'
1
3 ....... ...............
20
2
1 .......
1
................
6 ____
19
2
4
9
Nonmanufacturing
Extraction of minerals............ ........
Transportation and communica
tion........................................... —
Trade........................................... .
Domestic and personal service____
Professional service........................
Building and construction. ............
Agriculture and fishing....................
W PA and relief projects-------- -----Other nonmanufacturing industries.
Interindustry.
9,000
52
40
3
87
7
1
24
8
2
.... .
1
4
4
1
36
6
22
1
9
8
1 ...........
10 ....... .........
6
_________
............. ....................
4 .......................
7
1
There were 29 strikes in 1941 in each of which 10,000 or more workers
were involved. T en of these, including the 3 largest, were in coal
m ining, 4 involved building-trades workers, 3 took place in plants of
the Bethlehem Steel C o ., and 2 were against the Ford M otor C o.
E ight of the tw enty-nine large strikes lasted only a day or tw o, while
the largest— the bitum inous coal-m ine stoppage— lasted a full m onth.
A few of the more im portant strikes of 1941 are described on page 22.
13
ST R IK E S IN* 1 9 4 1
T a b le 7.— Strikes in 1941 W hich Involved 10,000 or M ore W orkers Each
Strike and location
International Harvester Co., Illinois and Indiana............................
Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Lackawanna, N. Y .1........................
Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Johnstown, Pa.1.................................. .
Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Bethlehem, Pa.1..................................
Bituminous-coal mines, Illinois....... ....................................................
Bituminous-coal mines, Alabama, Illinois, Iowa *...............................
Bituminous-coalmines (general)1.........................................................
Pord Motor Co., Dearborn, M ich.........................................................
Ravenna Ordnance Plant, Ravenna, O h i o ................................... .
Western Washington logging camps and sawmills............................ .
Building-trades workers, Detroit, Mich., and vicinity.......................
General Motors Corporation, Flint, Sagmaw, Detroit, Mich.1_____
Anthracite mines, Pennsylvania L . ......... ..........................................
North American Aviation, Inc., Inglewood, Calif.1............................
Building-trades workers and teamsters, New York C ity 1.................
Building-trades workers, New York C ity ..........................................
Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N. J........................
Construction workers on Missouri ordnance plants...........................
Tennessee Coal, Iron & R. R. Co., Alabama1...................................
Chrysler Motor Corporation (Dodge plant), Detroit, Mich.1.............
Alabama coal mines1.................. ......................................................... .
Anthracite mines, eastern Pennsylvania.............................................
Captive coal mines, 6 States................................................................. .
Welders, west coast shipyards, e t c .......... ...........................................
B. F. Goodrich Co. (5 plants), Akron, Ohio1.....................................
Carnegie-IUinois Steel Corporation, Gary, Ind.1.................................
Alabama coal mines1. . ......... .............................................................. .
Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich.1______ _____ _____ _______ _____
Bituminous commercial coal mines (sympathy with captive mines),
6 States 1..............................................................................................
Month strike began
January..
February.
M arch ...
___ do___
April____
___ d o . . .
___ d o . . .
M ay.........
___ do____
----- do____
.......do____
.......do____
June........
___ do____
July______
August___
___ do____
September.
— do____
___ do____
----- do-----___ do____
October__
.......do____
.......do____
----- do____
November.
___ do____
Approximate num
ber of
workers
involved
15,700
12,000
10,000
10,000
15.000
48.900
269.000
85.000
10.000
12,000
15.000
40.300
91.000
11.000
30.000
28.000
15.500
15,600
14,800
19.000
22.000
25.900
53.000
12.300
16,200
17.500
20.000
20,000
115.000
1 Lasted less than 1 week.
1 These 2 cases were part of the same general coal strike situation involving a total of about 318,000workers.
Statistically the strike in Alabama, Illinois, and Iowa was treated separately, since in these States the
workers continued idle into May, whereas in the other States practically none were idle after April 30.
Sex o f Workers
A b ou t 59 percent of the strikes in the year 1941 involved men alone;
in 39 percent, both m en and women were involved. O nly 80 strikes
were confined entirely to women— slightly less than 2 percent of the
total. N inety-one percent o f the total workers involved in strikes
were m en, and 9 percent were women. M o st of the large strikes
occurred in m ining, construction, steel, and transportation equipment
manufacturing, where m en compose all or m ost of the working force.
Establishments Involved
A b ou t three-fourths of the strikes occurring in 1941 were confined
to single establishm ents; for exam ple, one jjlant, one m ine, or one con
struction project. T he num ber o f workers in these strikes ranged from
6 (the sm allest num ber counted in the Bureau’s statistics) in a large
num ber of strikes to 85,000 in the giant R iver Rouge plant o f the Ford
M o to r C o. In these single-establishm ent strikes were 4 1.5 percent of
the total workers involved in strikes during the year and they accounted
for 39.4 percent of the total idleness during strikes.
T able 8 shows further classifications by number of establishm ents
involved. Although only 6 percent of the strikes extended to 11 or
more establishm ents, these strikes included 39 percent of the total
workers involved and accounted for about 45 percent of the total
idleness.
14
ST R IK E S IX
1941
In some cases strikes extending to more than one establishm ent in
volved two or more plants of the same com panv, and in other cases
they were more or less local industry strikes involving part or all of the
local plants in a particular industry.
T
able
8.— Strikes Ending in 1941, b y Num ber o f Establishments Involved
Workers involved
Strikes
Number of establishments involved
Number
Percent
of total
Total......................................................
4,314
100.0
2,364,297
100.0
23,009,296
100.0
1 establishment. ......................... .........
2 to 5 establishments.............................
6 to 10 establishments....... ...................
11 establishments and over..................
3,253
656
146
259
75.4
15.2
3.4
6.0
980,836
378,828
72,190
932,443
41.5
16.0
3.1
39.4
9,075,617
3,138,903
499,767
10,295,009
39.4
13.6
2.2
44.8
Number
Percent
of total
Man-days idle
Number
Percent
of total
Duration o f Strikes
Strikes ending in 1941 were of a little shorter duration on the average
than those in the preceding year, partly as a result of greater assistance
rendered by Governm ent agencies in settling disputes and the greater
urgency for quick settlem ents to avoid impeding the defense program .
T he average duration of the strikes ending m 1941 was 18 calendar days,
as compared with 21 calendar days for 1940 strikes.1 The workers
involved in the 1941 strikes were idle on the average about 10 working
days, as compared with llK #in 1940.2
O ne-fourth of the strikes in 1941 lasted no longer than 3 days, and
65 percent of them were settled in less than one-half m onth after they
began (table 9 ). Less than 3 percent of the strikes lasted as long as
3 m onths, 5.7 percent were in progress 2 m onths or m ore, 17.2 percent
lasted 1 m onth or m ore, and 35.2 percent continued for one-half m onth
or longer. A b ou t 43 percent of the total workers involved were out on
strikeless than a week, 33 percent were out from a week up to a m onth,
and 24 percent were out for a m onth or more. A t the same tim e, 60
percent of the total idleness resulted from strikes which lasted a
m onth or m ore.
T a b le 9.— Duration o f Strikes Ending in 1941
Strikes
Workers involved
Man-days idle
Duration of strikes
Number
Percent
of total
Total.....................................................
4,314
100.0
2,364,297
100.0
23,009,296
JOO.O
1 day......................................................
2-3 d a y s......... .....................................
4 days and less than 1 week.................
1 week and less than m onth...........
H and less than 1 month......................
1 and less than 2 months......................
2 and less than 3 months......................
3 months or m ore.................................
403
691
634
1,069
775
496
122
124
9.3
16.0
14.7
24.8
18.0
11.5
2.8
2.9
295,565
339,096
385,357
474,784
314,060
481,662
48,958
24,815
12.5
14.3
16.3
20.1
13.3
20.4
2.1
1.0
295,565
653,817
1,186,507
3,176,525
3,936,109
9,259,967
2,029,071
2,471,735
1.8
2.8
5.2
13.8
17.1
40.8
8.8
10.7
Number
Percent
of total
Number
Percent
of total
1 These are simple averages based on the duration of each strike without reference to the number of workers
involved or the number of man-days of idleness resulting.
2 These also are simple averages obtained by dividing the total man-days idle by the total number of workers
involved for each year.
S T R IK E S IK
15
1941
C HA RT 9.
DURATION OF STRIKES
ENDING IN 1941
LESS THAN
LESS THAN
LESS THAN
LESS THAN
I WEEK
•/* MONTH
I MONTH
2 MONTHS 3 MONTHS
LESS THAN
OR MORE
Labor Organizations Involved
Am erican Federation of Labor unions were involved in the m ajority
o f the individual strikes during 1941, but unions affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations were involved in strikes that
accounted for the m ajor part of the total idleness during all strikes.
A s regards the num ber of strikes, A . F . of L . unions were involved in
54 percent and C . I . O . unions in 37 percent.
B oth A . F . of L . and C . I . O . unions were involved in the m ajority
o f the rival union disputes (4 percent of the total). T he A . F . of L .
strikes included one-fourth of the total workers involved and accounted
for 30 percent of the total idleness during strikes, whereas the C . I. 0 .
strikes included nearly 70 percent of the total number of workers
involved and accounted for 65 percent of the total idleness.
Unions affiliated with neither of the two m ajor organizations
were involved in 93 strikes during the year. In 22 of these cases the
unions were local organizations whose membership was confined to
em ployees of one com pany, and in 3 cases they were unaffiliated rail
road brotherhoods. Am ong the unions involved in the remaining
cases were the M echanics Educational Society of Am erica, the
16
ST R IK E S IX
1941
Independent T extile Union in and around W oonsocket, R . I ., the
International Typographical U nion, which was unaffiliated at th at
tim e, and several sm all organizations existing only in one or more
local areas.
In m ost strikes the union concerned called the strike and was
involved from the beginning. In a few cases, however, the workers
were unorganized when they struck; some union later cam e into the
case and assisted in negotiating the settlem ent.
T a b l e 10.— Strikes Ending in 1941 , by Affiliations o f Labor Organizations Involved
Strikes
Labor organizations involved
Number
Workers involved
Percent
Percent
of
Number
of
total
total
Man-days, idle
Number
Percent
of
total
Total_____________________________________
4,314
100.0 2,364,297
100.0
23,009,296
100.0
American Federation of Labor.........................
Congress of Industrial Organizations...............
Unaffiliated unions............................................
Railroad brotherhoods.......................................
2 rival unions......................................................
Company unions...............................................
No organization.................................................
2,343
1,681
68
3
167
22
130
584,442
54.3
36.6 1,641,044
26,321
1.6
.1
106
3.9
86,158
.5
4,007
3.0
22,219
24.7
69.5
1.1
0)
3.6
.2
.9
6,970,273
14,903,980
261,665
824
736,234
43,375
92,945
30.3
64.8
1.1
0)
3.2
.2
.4
i Less than a tenth of 1 percent.
Causes o f Strikes
Questions of wages and hours were m ajor issues in 36 percent of
the strikes. A bout 47 percent of the total workers involved were con
cerned prim arily with these issues, and the idleness from these strikes
am ounted to 45 percent of the total. T he vast m ajority of the strikes
in this group were for wage increases. The large bitum inous-coal stop
page is, of course, included in these totals. T he proportions of strikes
and of workers involved in strikes over wage issues were greater than
in any year since 1935. This trend reflects the attem pt o f workers to
keep their wages in line with the rising cost of living and to obtain
their share of increasing profits from the rapidly expanding defense
program.
Union-organization m atters— union recognition, closed or union
shop, discrim ination, etc.— were the m ajor issues in about half of the
strikes ending in 1941. Only 32 percent of the total workers involved
were included in these strikes but 44 percent of the total m an-days
idle resulted from them . Union recognition was an im portant issue
in 34 percent of the strikes and closed or union shop in 8 percent. If
the widespread bitum inous-coal stoppage which occurred in A pril
were not included in the figures, the number of workers involved in
union-organization strikes would be about the same as in w age-andhour strikes and the idleness would greatly exceed the wage-and-hour
strike idleness.
A b ou t 7 percent of the 1941 strikes, including 13 percent of the
total workers involved and accounting for 8 percent of the total idle
ness, consisted of sym pathy strikes, rival union or factional disputes,
and jurisdictional strikes. A lm ost 8 percent of the total strikes,
including 9 percent of the workers involved and 3 percent of the idle
ness were due to specific grievances over local working conditions,
often relating to work loads, objectionable adm inistrative m ethods,
or physical surroundings.
ST R IK E S IN
17
1941
CHART 6
MAJOR ISSUES INVOLVED IN STRIKES
1927-1941
PERCENT OF STRIKES
1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941
PERCENT OF WORKERS INVOLVED IN STRIKES
1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 19341935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941
MAJOR ISSUES:
W / / \ MISCELLANEOUS
| UNION ORGANIZATION
WAGES AND HOURS
18
S T R IK E S IN
1941
T a b le 11.— M ajor Issues Involved in Strikes Ending in 1941
Strikes
Major issue
Num
ber
Workers involved
Per
Per
cent of Number cent of
total
total
Man-days idle
Number
Per
cent of
total
All issues...............................................................
4,314
100.0 2,364,297
100.0
23,009,296
100.0
Wages and hours...................................................
Wage increase.................................................
Wage decrease............... ...... ..........................
Wage increase, hour decrease........................
Wage decrease, hour increase........................
Hour increase..................................................
Hour decrease-................................................
1,535
1,335
70
117
3
4
6
35.6 1,108,378
31.0 1,032,886
1.6
41,310
2.7
33,719
.1
125
113
.1
225
.1
46.9
43.8
1.7
1.4
0)
0)
0)
10,447,964
9,943,365
138,822
356,207
393
7,202
1,975
45.4
43.3
.6
1.5
0)
0)
0)
Union organization...............................................
Recognition....................................................
Recognition and wages...............................
Recognition and hours...................................
Recognition, wages and hours.......................
Discrimination....................................... ........
Strengthening bargaining position................
Closed or union shop.....................................
Other............................................................ .
2,138
406
805
2
253
183
85
358
46
49.5
9.4
18.6
0)
5.9
4.2
2.0
8.3
1.1
744,054
196,756
215,518
46
32,231
49,077
84,397
144,499
21,530
31.5
8.3
9.1
0)
1.4
2.1
3.6
6.1
.9
10,068,208
2,482,900
3,373,970
113
473,812
368,974
822,375
2, 385, 593
• 160.471
43.8
10.7
14.7
0)
2.1
1.6
3.6
10.4
.7
Miscellaneous...... ............................. ...................
Sympathy.......................................................
Rival unions or factions.................................
Jurisdiction2...................................................
Other................................... ......... ..................
Not reported.......................... ......... ..............
641
44
179
93
311
14
14.9
1.0
4.1
2.2
7.3
.3
511,865
143,488
117,912
37,410
212,270
785
21.6
6.1
5.0
1.6
8.9
0)
2,493,124
442,829
1,094, 332
260,985
673,518
21,460
10.8
1.9
4.8
1.1
2.9
.1
1 Less than a tenth of 1 percent.
2 It is probable that the figures here given do not include all jurisdictional strikes.
nature ,of these disputes, it is difficult for the Bureau to find out about all of them.
Owing to the local
Results o f Strikes
T he classification of the results of strikes necessarily involves ele
m ents of judgm ent. A n attem pt m ust be made to compare the condi
tions achieved or existing after the strike to the demands or issues
over which the strike occurred. T he Bureau obtains the facts from
the parties directly involved as well as from any third or neutral
parties participating in the settlem ent negotiations. On the basis
of such inform ation, the Bureau evaluates the results of each strike
and classifies the strike as to whether the workers' demands were sub
stantially won, compromised, or lost. Such classification is based,
however, on conditions as they appear to exist im m ediately after
term ination of the strike. Developm ents, m onths later, m ay reveal
th at an apparently successful strike eventually resulted in forcing an
em ployer out of business with the consequent loss of the workers'
job s. On the other hand, an apparently unsuccessful strike m ay
result in future im provem ents which could not be foreseen at the
term ination of the strike. The Bureau has no w ay of keeping in
touch with these subsequent developments and m ust classify strikes
on the basis of im m ediate results.
A bout 42 percent of the strikes ending in 1941 were substantially
successful from the workers' point of view, 36 percent were settled on
a compromise basis, and 15 percent brought the workers little or no
gains. A bout 44 percent of the workers involved were in the success^
ful strikes, 41 percent obtained compromise settlem ents, and 6 per^
cent gained little or nothing. Approxim ately 48 percent of the total
idleness resulted from the successful strikes, 38 percent from those
STR IK E S IN
19
1941
which were compromised, and 7 percent from those which brought
the workers little or no gains. The settlem ent of about 6 percent of
the strikes, which included 7 percent of the total workers involved,
and accounted for 6 percent of the total idleness, involved questions
of jurisdiction, union rivalry, or factionalism . T he results of a few
strikes were indeterm inate or not reported.
T a b le 12.— Results o f Strikes Ending in 1941
Strikes
Result
Workers involved
Per
Per
Num cent
of Number cent of
ber
total
total
Man-days idle
Number
Per
cent of
total
Tntftl
4,314
100.0 2,364,297
100.0
23,009,296
100.0
Substantial gains to workers............ ...................
Partial gains or compromises...............................
Little or no gains to workers................................
Jurisdiction, rival union, or faction settlements..
Indeterminate.......................................................
Not reported.........................................................
1,805
1,545
627
272
56
9
41.9 1,035,813
959,304
35.8
14.5
144,861
155,322
6.3
1.3
68,360
.2
637
43.8
40.6
6.1
6.6
2.9
0)
11,130,359
8,679,176
1,675,206
1,355,317
149,106
20,132
48.4
37.7
7.3
5.9
.6
.1
1 Less than a tenth of 1 percent.
T able 13 indicates the results of each group of strikes having similar
m ajor issues. A s between wage-and-hour strikes and union-organiza
tion strikes, there was not enough difference in proportionate results
to say that either group was more successful on the whole than the
other. W hile a slightly greater proportion of the organization
strikes were substantially won, a larger proportion were substantially
lost also, leaving a smaller proportion of strikes which were compro
mised than in the w age-and-hour disputes. T he proportions of
workers involved followed about the same pattern as num ber of
strikes. In the w age-and-hour strikes, the proportion compromised
was greater than the corresponding proportion in the union-organiza
tion group, while the proportions won and lost were a little less than in
the union-organization group.
Som e relationship between results and duration of the strikes
ending in 1941 is indicated in table 14. Generally speaking, the
successful strikes were of relatively short duration, whereas the strikes
which could not be Settled successfully soon after they began tended
to be term inated either by compromises or unsuccessful settlem ents
for the workers.
O f the strikes which lasted for 1 day up to 1 m onth, the proportion
winch was substantially won ranged from 42 to 49 percent. O nly 37
percent of the strikes lasting from 1 to 2 m onths brought substantial
gains to the workers, and of the strikes which lasted 2 m onths or
more the proportion of successful settlem ents was only 24 to 26
percent. A s for the strikes which were settled on a compromise
basis, only 27% percent of the 1-day strikes were com prom ised, while
about 34 percent of the 2-d ay to a week strikes, and 50 percent of
those lasting between 2 and 3 m onths resulted in compromise settle
m ents. H ow ever, of the strikes continuing for 3 m onths or m ore,
the proportion settled on a compromise basis was only 36 percent.
There was little relationship between the strikes which were lost and
466389°— 42------- 4
20
ST R IK E S I X
1941
their duration, except that the highest percentages o f lost strikes
occurred in the 1-day disputes and in the extrem ely long disputes
which lasted for 3 m onths or m ore.
T a b l e 13.— Results o f Strikes Ending in 1941 , in Relation to M ajor Issues Involved
Total
Major issue
Number
Strikes resulting inJuris
Sub
Little diction,
stan Partial
gains
or
no
rival
Not
Inde
Per
tial
or
gains union,or termi
re
cent
gains compro
to
faction
ported
nate
to
mises
workers
settle
workers
ments
Strikes
Percent of strikes
All issues.............................................
4,314
100.0
41.9
35.8
14.5
Wages and hours................................
Wage increase..............................
W age decrease_____ ____ ______
Wage increase, hour decrease___
Wage decrease, hour increase___
Hour increase.............................
Hour decrease.............. ...............
1,535
1,335
70
117
3
4
6
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
44.6
43.7
52.9
48.7
66.7
50.0
50.0
44.7
46.1
28.6
41.9
33.3
10.4
9.9
17.1
9.4
16.7
50.0
33.3
Union organization.........................
Recognition..................................
Recognition and wages.. ....... . _
Recognition and hours................
Recognition, wages, and hours.
Discrimination........................
Strengthening bargaining posi
tion.... ..................... ..................
Closed or union shop...................
Other. ............ .............................
2,138
406
805
2
253
183
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
47.3
40.5
58.4
100.0
55.7
35.0
33.7
27.3
30.3
17.9
31.5
11.2
1.1
.5
.1
26. i
40.5
17.4
24.0
.8
.5
85
358
46
100.0
100.0
100.0
32.9
34.4
41.3
37.7
49.4
34.8
12.9
15.6
21.7
16.5
.6
2.2
Miscellaneous....... ........... ..................
Sympathy.......... ..........................
Rival unions or factions..............
Jurisdiction ..................................
Other ........................................
Not reported...............................
641
44
179
93
311
14
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
17.2
29.5
21.5
18.2
13.3
11.4
41.8
24.1
35.7
30.9
7.1
Workers
6.3
1.3
42.4
100.0
100.0
4.4
40.9
3.2
100.0
43.8
40.6
6.1
Wages and hours................................ 1,108,378
Wage increase........................... — 1,032,886
Wage decrease........ ...................
41,310
Wage increase, hour decrease___
33,719
125
Wage decrease, hour increase___
113
Hour increase. ...........................
225
Hour decrease............ .................
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
45.7
47.3
16.4
32.9
20.0
55.8
72.4
48.2
48.9
16.7
64.3
80.0
6.0
3.7
66.4
2.8
2.7
•44.2
24.9
Union organization.............................
Recognition..................................
Recognition and wages____ ____
Recognition and hours.................
Recognition, wages, and hours...
Discrimination_______________
Strengthening bargaining posi
tion________________________
Closed or union shop_________
Other________________________
744,054
196,756
215,518
46
32,231
49,077
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
46.0
62.5
41.2
100.0
45.1
31.2
43.7
31.3
51,1
6.4
4.2
7.5
3.9
2.0
.2
28.0
59.6
9.8
9.1
17.1
.1
84,397
144,499
21,530
100.0
100.0
100.0
19.3
51.3
48.7
57.6
39.9
39.9
6.9
5.4
9.4
16.2
3.4
2.0
Miscellaneous.....................................
Sympathy
Rival unions or factions________
Jurisdiction_____ ____ ______ __
Other............................................
Not reported__________________
511,865
143,488
117,912
37,410
212,270
785
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
36.6
93.5
19.5
.6
6.0
.3
24.8
5.4
46.6
14.2
14.8
(i)
.2
1.2
57.2
Percent of workers involved
All issues............................................. 2,364,297
i Less than a tenth of 1 percent.
0.2
.3
*3
1.4
6.6
2.9
0)
.1
.1
.5
30.3
100.0
100.0
7.5
5.6
(t)
(1)
0.1
14.4
79.8
S T R IK E S IN
T
able
21
1941
14.— Results o f Strikes Ending in 1941 in Relation to Their Duration
Number of strikes resulting
in—
Duration of strikes
Total
Percent of strikes resulting
in—
Sub
Sub
Little
stan Partial
Total stan Partial
gains or no
gains
tial
tial
gains
or
or
Other i
gains com
gains com
to
to
to
work
pro
pro
work mises ers
work mises
ers
ers
Little
or no
gains Other1
to
work
ers
Total....................................... 4,314
1,806
1,646
627
337
100.0
41.9
36.8
14.6
7.8
403
1 day........................................
2-3 days...................................
691
4 days and less than 1 week.. _
634
1 week and less than H month. 1,069
H and less than 1 month........
776
1 and less than 2 months........
496
122
2 and less than 3 months........
124
3 months or more....................
172
293
311
463
324
181
29
32
111
233
214
384
296
201
61
46
79
100
72
148
91
81
21
36
41
66
37
74
64
33
11
12
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
42.7
42.4
49.0
43.4
41.8
36.6
23.8
26.8
27.6
33.7
33.8
36.9
38.2
40.6
60.0
36.3
19.6
14.6
11.4
13.8
11.7
16.3
17.2
28.2
10.2
9.4
6.8
6.9
8.3
6.7
9.0
9.7
1 Includes strikes for which sufficient information was not available, as well as those involving rival unions
and questions of jurisdiction, the results of which cannot be evaluated in terms of their effect on the welfare
of all workers concerned.
In table 15 the strikes involving up to 5,000 workers were sufficiently
large in num ber to perm it some conclusions as to the relation between
results and num ber of workers involved. T he sm all strikes tended to
be quite definitely either won or lost with a relatively sm all propor
tion being compromised.. T he proportion of successful strikes was
large among those involving fewer than 100 workers but was sm aller
in the strikes involving larger numbers of workers. There were
fewer compromise settlem ents among the sm all strikes than among
the strikes involving greater numbers of workers. T h e proportion
of lost strikes was greater among those of the sm allest size than among
those of m edium size.
The number of strikes in the last two classifications of the table—
strikes involving 5,000 or more workers— is too sm all to indicate any
particular pattern. A substantial proportion (16 percent) of the
strikes involving from 5,000 to 10,000 workers were lost, whereas only
3 percent of those involving 10,000 and over were lost. T he m ajority
of the extrem ely large strikes were settled on a compromise basis.
T
able
15.— Results o f Strikes Ending in 1941 in Relation to Num ber o f Workers Involved
Number of strikes resulting in—
Percent of strikes resulting in—
Number of workers
involved
Total
Total.............................
4,314
1,805
1,645
627
337
100.0
41.9
35.8
14.5
7.8
6 and under 20..............
721
20 and under 100........... 1,570
100 and under 250...
872
260 and under 600.........
492
335
600 and under 1,000.......
270
1,000 and under 6,000...
25
5,000 and under 10,000.
29
10,000 and over..............
317
732
360
192
116
74
5
9
166
472
356
216
161
149
10
15
189
252
89
44
27
21
4
1
49
114
67
40
31
26
6
4
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
44.0
46.5
41.3
39.0
34.6
27.4
20.0
31.0
23.0
30.1
40.8
44.0
48.0
55.2
40.0
51.8
26.2
16.1
10.2
8.9
8.1
7.8
16.0
3.4
6.8
7.3
7.7
8.1
9.3
9.6
24.0
13.8
Sub Partial Little
Total Sub Partial Little
stantial gains or or no
stantial gains or or no
gains to compro gains to Other1
gains to compro gains to Other*
workers mises workers
workers mises workers
i Includes strikes for which sufficient information was not available, as well as those involving rival
unions, jurisdiction, and other questions, the results of which cannot be evaluated in terms of their effect
on the welfare of all workers concerned.
22
S T R IK E S IK
1941
M ethods o f Negotiating Settlements
Slightly more than half of the strikes ending in 1941 were settled
w ith the assistance of Governm ent officials or boards. N early
three-fourths of the total workers involved were included in these
strikes, and they accounted for approxim ately 85 percent of the total
idleness during all strikes. A bout one-third of the strikes were settled
directly between employers and union officials without the assistance
of third parties. These were smaller strikes on the average, including
about one-fourth of the total workers and only 11 percent of the total
idleness involved.
O f the 2,279 strikes term inated with the assistance of Governm ent
agencies, 2,183 were settled b y conciliation or m ediation m ethods.
A ll or some of the disputed issues went to arbitration in 93 cases.
In 3 cases— N orth Am erican A viation, In c., at Inglew ood, C a lif.,
Federal Shipbuilding & D ry D ock C o ., at K earny, N . J ., and A ir
Associates, In c., at Bendix, N . J.— the plants were taken over and
operated tem porarily by the Federal Governm ent.
A s indicated in table 16, there were a few strikes settled directly
between employers and workers w ithout the aid of union officials,
and a few settled with the assistance of private conciliators or arbi
trators— conciliation methods in 7 and arbitration in 28. A total of
121 strikes were settled by arbitration, either by a private or a public
agency.
N early 11 percent of the strikes were terminated w ithout form al
settlem ents, but these included only 3 percent of the total workers
involved, and accounted for only 4 percent of the total idleness.
In m ost of these cases, the strikers lost their jobs when em ployers
hired new workers to take their places or else closed down operations
perm anently. In a few cases, however, the strikes were sim ply
called off without settlem ents and the workers returned on term s
offered by their respective employers.
T
able
16.— M ethods o f Negotiating Settlements o f Strikes Ending in 1941
Strikes
Agency by which negotiations toward settle
ments were carried on
Num
ber
All agencies............................................................
4,314
Employers and workers directly..........................
Employers and representatives of organized
workers directly.................................................
Government officials or boards............................
Private conciliators or arbitrators........................
Terminated without formal settlement...............
89
1,451
2,279
35
460
Workers involved
Per
Per
cent of. Number cent of
total
total
100.0 2,364,297
Man-days idle
Number
Per
cent of
total t
100.0
23,009,296
16,352
.7
62,134
.3
33.6
563,599
52.8 1,704,229
.8
5,080
75,037
10.7
23.8
72.1
.2
3.2
2,479,329
19,534,034
89,908
843,891
10.8
84.8
.4
3.7
2.1
100.0
M a jor Strikes in 1941
Attis-Chalmers strike .— A particularly bitter dispute and one which
affected defense production was the strike at the Allis-C halm ers
M anufacturing C o. which began January 22 and continued until
A pril 7. A bou t 7,500 workers were involved. T he union (U nited
Autom obile W orkers of Am erica, C . I. O .) had previously had an
agreement with the com pany, which expired in the spring of 1940.
D uring the ensuing m onths, while a new contract was under con
S T R IK E S IX
1941
23
sideration, the union charged the cuwptuiy with showing favoritism
toward nonunion and A . F . of L . m en. T o forestall a weakening in
its position, the union demanded some kind of security clause in the
new contract but the com pany refused to accept any term s which
would require em ployees to become 02" remain members of the C . I . O .
union.
Num erous conferences by the com pany and union representatives
and Governm ent conciliators failed to bring about a settlem ent.
F inally, the Secretary of Labor certified the case to the N ational
Defense M ediation Board, which succeeded in having the strike
called off. W ith in a short tim e, terms of settlem ent were reached
which provided that all em ployees oh the com pany pay roll when
the strike began were to be restored tb their jobs w ithout discrimina
tion, and that there should be no strikes or lock-outs during the life
of the 1-year agreement. A n iifijiartial referee was established to
arbitrate all disputes arising under the contract, including charges of
discrimination or favoritism , which hiight affect union security.
International Harvester Co. s t r i k e . 1strike called by the Farm
Equipm ent Organizing Com m ittee (C . L O .) on January 17, 1941, in
plants of the International H arvester C o. in Illinois and Indiana,
involved more than 15,000 workeri? at its peak. T he principal
dem and was for union recognition, Although wage adjustm ents and
the abolishm ent of the com pany’s piiece-work system were' also in
dispute. For m any years the coihpany had been dealing with local
plant organizations, and on February 8 1the N ational Labor R elations
Board ordered the com pany to disestablish what they found to be
com pany-dom inated organizations.
These disputes were certified to the N ational Defense M ediation
Board on M arch 27 and work was resumed a few days later,-w ith the
understanding th at the N ational Labor Relations Board would
conduct elections w ithout delay and that the wage questions would
be given consideration by the M ediation Board.
Bituminous coal-mine stoppage .— W ith the expiration of the 2-year
agreement in the Appalachian area, a stoppage involving about 318,000
workers took place in the bitum inous coal-m ining industry A pril 1,
1941. The stoppage affected some districts outside the Appalachian
area, while others continued operating under extension agreements
providing that any changes agreed upon subsequently should be
retroactive to A pril 1. The principal dem ands of the union (United
M ine W orkers of Am erica) were for a wage increase of $1 a day and
elim ination of the 40-cen t wage differential between northern and
southern fields.
A fter a few days the northern operators agreed to an increase of
$1 a day, but work was not resumed because southern operators would
n ot agree to an increase of $1.40 per day which was necessary to
equal the northern rates. W hen i he deadlock continued, the entire
dispute was certified to the N ational Defense M ediation Board on
A pril 24. A tentative settlem ent was reached on A pril 30 and the
m ines were im m ediately opened with the understanding that any
final wage settlem ent for the southern fields would be retroactive to
the date work was resumed. Southern operators increased wages $1
a day but the union insisted on the additional 40 cents to eliminate the
north-south differential. T he N . D . M . B . recommended arbitration
o f the issue. Operators agreed, but the union refused and threatened
another stoppage in the entire industry. The Board, failing to obtain
24
ST R IK E S IN
1941
an agreement directly, made public recommendations to the effect
that the differential be eliminated after a study which revealed that
only 3X cents per ton in labor costs would be added to southern
operations which would not constitute an “ unendurable com petitive
burden.” The B oard’s recommendations were finally accepted b y
both parties and a 2-year contract for the entire southern Appalachian
area was signed July 6, 1941.
Captive coal-mine strike.— Prior to the strike in “ captive m ines”
(whose output is used alm ost exclusively by the steel companies which
own them ), wages and working conditions were substantidlly the
same as provided for in the agreements between the U nited M ine
W orkers of Am erica and operators of commercial m ines (see above),
except that m ost of the captive m ines were n ot bound by the unionshop clause, which was a part of practically all agreements with
com mercial operators. The captive-m ine strike was principally an
attem pt to establish union-shop conditions in these m ines. Approxi
m ately 53,000 workers in Pennsylvania, W est Virginia, K en tu cky, and
A labam a were involved in the strike, which began Septem ber 15, 1941,
and m ost o f them were idle at 3 different tim es before the dispute w as
settled.
Im m ediately after the strike started the N ational Defense M ediation
Board requested a return to work while the settlem ent was being
negotiated. T his was agreed M after 5 days of idleness, the union
accepting a 30-d ay truce.* W hen no settlem ent could be reached din ing
the truce period, the Board recommended arbitration of the dispute
but the union refused and called the men out again on October 27.
Three days later the union agreed to reopen the m ines until N ovem ber
15 with the understanding that the N . D . M . B . would proceed in fu ll
session tjo consider the m erits of the dispute and m ake its final recom
m endations although neither party was com m itted to acceptance in
advance. W ith in 10 days the Board, with C . I . O . m em bers dissenting,
recommended the adoption of the standard Appalachian agreement
w ithout the union-shop clause. U pon refusal of the union to accept
this recom m endation, the workers were called out a third tim e on
N ovem ber 17 and were idle for a week, during which tim e, amid
considerable violence, sym pathy walkouts at commercial m ines
developed until more than 100,000 workers, in addition to those at
the captive m ines, were idle in 8 states.
On N ovem ber 22 the union’s policy com m ittee accepted a Pres
idential proposal to return to work and subm it the dispute to a special
arbitration board whose decision would be final. T he arbitration
board was composed of John L . Lew is, president of the union;
Benjam in Fairless, president of the U . S. Steel Corporation; and
John ft. Steelm an, director of the U nited States Conciliation Service.
T his board, with the em ployer member dissenting, on Decem ber 7
awarded the mine workers the union shop, thereby establishing unionshop conditions alm ost universally throughout the coal-m ining industry.
Ford M otor Co. strike.— Although intensive organizing activities
had been carried on among Ford employees for several years, they
had m et with strong opposition from the com pany. Several strikes in
the com pany’s plants had taken place and the N ation al Labor R ela
tions Board had issued orders requiring the com pany, in effect, to
cease interfering with organizing rights of em ployees. Follow ing the
discharge of several union m en, a strike was called at the R iver R ouge
plant early in A pril. W hen the N ational Labor R elations Board
ST R IK E S IN
1941
25
ordered an election to be held within 45 days, the union term inated
the strike. T he election held on M a y 21 gave the United A utom obile
W orkers (C . I . O .) an overwhelm ing m ajority. Follow ing this elec
tion the com pany revised its former antiunion policy and signed an
agreem ent with "the union which exceeded by far the original union
dem ands. T he agreement provides for union shop, check-off of
union dues, wage rates at least equal to the highest rates in the indus
try, and a shop steward system for handling grievances, w ith an
appeals board m ade up of com pany and union representatives.
North Am erican Aviation, In c., strike.— T he U nited Autom obile
W orkers (C . I. O .) had been negotiating with N orth Am erican
A viation , In c., for several weeks for a general wage increase. W hen a
strike threatened during the latter part of M a y , the Secretary of Labor
certified the dispute to the N ational Defense M ediation Board.
W hile hearings before the Board were in progress a strike was called
June 5 by the local union officials w ithout authorization from the
international union. A fter all efforts to get the men back to work
failed, on June 9 President R oosevelt issued an order for the Secretary
of W ar to take over the plant. Troops m oved in im m ediately and
b y the end of the next day the strike was called off. In the m eantim e,
the M ediation Board carried on negotiations and by July 1 a settle
m ent acceptable to both parties was reached. In addition to wage
increases, the contract contained a m aintenance-of-m em bership
clause.
N ew York electricians and building-trades strike.— T his strike was
an outgrowth of a dispute between the International Brotherhood of
Electrical W orkers, Local N o . 3 (A . F . of L .), and the Consolidated
Edison C o. of N ew Y ork over the question of using Local N o . 3 m en on
the com pany’s construction work. Back in April 1940 the Brother
hood of Consolidated Edison Em ployees had won a N ation al Labor
Relations Board election and was, subsequently, certified as exclusive
bargaining agent for the com pany’s employees. T he com pany
prom ptly signed an agreement with this organization and gave to it
all construction work, some of which had previously been done by
m en belonging to Local N o . 3.
Since Local N o . 3 members were not em ployed by the com pany, the
union could take no direct action, but A . F . of L . building tradesmen
called strikes against subcontractors working on Consolidated con
struction jobs, attem pting to force the com pany to give the disputed
wprk to the electrical workers’ union. T he dispute culminated in a
general strike of 8,000 N ew Y ork electricians on July 29. Other
building-trades workers stopped work also, either in sym pathy with
the electricians or because of work stoppages made necessary by the
absence of electricians, until a total of 28,000 were idle.
On A ugust 7 the dispute was certified to the N ational Defense
M ediation Board, and 2 days later it was called off by the union pending
a decision. E arly in Septem ber the Board, supporting the findings of
its special investigator, concluded that Local N o . 3 claim s to the jobs
on Consolidated construction work were not justified.
Federal Shipbuilding cfe D ry Dock Co. strike, K earn y, N . J .— Shortly
before the expiration of an agreement between the com pany and the
Industrial Union of M arine and Shipbuilding W orkers of Am erica
(C . I. O .) M a y 31, 1941, the union proposed a new contract asking
26
ST R IK E S IN' 1 9 4 1
primarily for a closed shop and, secondarily, for certain job reclas-sifications. D uring the negotiations the dispute was certified to the
N ational Defense M ediation Board, which succeeded in settling all
issues except that of union status. T he Board recommended an agree
m ent which would settle this issue by including a m aintenance-ofmembership clause which would require all woi*kers who were m em
bers of the union or who joined the union later to remain members in
good standing during the life of the contract.
T he union agreed to this compromise but when the company
refused, a strike was called A ugust 6, and more than 15,000 shipyard
workers stopped work. W hen no agreement was reached in the next
2 weeks, the President issued an Executive order on A ugust 23 requir
ing that the plant be taken over and operated by the N a v y D epart
m ent. W ork was resumed the next day and the plant continued
operating under the direction of the N a v y D epartm ent until January
7, 1942, when it was returned to com pany officials. N o final settle
m ent of the issue was reached, however, until 4 m onths later. On
A pril 25 the W a r Labor Board, which had jurisdiction over the case,
issued a directive order that the m aintenance-of-m em bership clause be
inserted in an agreement between the com pany and union. T he com
pany announced on M a y 8, 1942, that it would com ply with the
B oard’s order.
W est coast welders’ strike.— Approxim ately 12,500 workers were
m ade idle by the strike of welders, employed principally in shipyards
and some m etal-w orking shops in the Puget Sound area of W ashing
ton, which began on October 22, 1941, and spread a few days later to
the Los Angeles-Long Beach, C a lif., harbor area. T he strike was
called because of the failure of the 1941 convention of the A . F . of L .
to take action on a request for the chartering of a separate welders’
union. W elders contended that it was necessary for them to belong
to as m any as four or more different A . F . of L . international unions
in order to perform all aspects of their work, and for that reason they
should be given autonom y. A s early as 1916 the Am erican Federation
of Labor had refused to recognize welding as a trade, and ruled that
“ acetylene welding” is a process and that “ acetylene welder” is a tool.
T his position received governm ental approval in the so-called “ W ilson
Aw ard” of July* 1918 when an arbitration board appointed by Secre
tary of Labor W ilson ruled that “ the exclusive use of a tool or process
cannot be conceded to a single craft or any group of w orkm en.”
In response to a plea by the Office of Production M anagem ent the
welders voted N ovem ber 5 to terminate the strike pending a confer
ence under O . P. M . direction of representatives of affected unions.
A conference on N ovem ber 22 resulted in a pledge by the officials of
nine A . F . of L . unions that there should be no excessive fees nor
should it be necessary for a workman performing welding to carry
m ore than one union card. Subsequently, however, the welders
contended that the various local unions continued to demand m em ber
ship cards. E arly in Decem ber the welders scheduled another strike
for D ecem ber 9. W ith the declaration of war the threatened strike
was canceled. Except for a minor stoppage of a few hundred workers
late in D ecem ber, and a similar incident a m onth later, the welders
have continued to work, although the issue has not been settled to their
satisfaction.
STRIKES AFFECTING DEFENSE PRODUCTION
June 1940 to December 7, 1941
During the defense period (June 1940 to December 7, 1941), there
were 352 strikes, involving about 650,000 workers, which interfered
to some degree with defense production. The 6,850,000 man-days
of idleness during these strikes amounted to slightly more than seventenths of 1 percent of the total time worked on defense production.
Throughout this period, which began with the first congressional
emergency appropriations for defense and ended with the entrance of
the United States into war, American labor and industry faced many
special problems which at times caused conflicts Reading to strikes.
Production and employment increased steadily, particularly in those
industries directly concerned with the output of defense materials.
As a consequence, there was a great influx of new and often non
union workers into organized plants and industries, raising very sharply
the question of union security. Emphasis on “ around-the-clock”
production brought the problems of shift work and overtime rates into
new prominence. A major source of disquietude was the steadily
rising cost of living. W hile earnings of workers increased generally,
through negotiated rate increases and longer hours of work, in many
instances the cost of living rose more rapidly than wages.
A n analysis of the strikes which directly affected defense production
indicates that they were not substantially different from other strikes.
A greater proportion were disputes over wage increases and more of
them were settled on a compromise basis with the help of government
agencies.
D efinition o f "D efen se Strikes”
The strikes here referred to as “ defense strikes” are those which
the Labor Division of the Office of Production M anagem ent found
after investigation to have interfered with or delayed defense pro
duction. However, the number of workers and the m an-days of idle
ness in each case are the number involved for the entire strike even
though only a portion of the workers who stopped work m ay have been
engaged on defense production.
T he question as to whether and how much a particular strike affected
defense production is not easily determined, especially in the early
days of the defense program when government contracts for defense
needs made up only a portion of a plant’s output. A strike m ay have
occurred in a plant having a defense ordeir but, if it did not last too
long and upon the return of men to work the defense order was pushed
ahead of other regular work, there m ay have been no net delay in the
completion of the defense contract. Even a strike in a plant entirely
engaged on defense work m ay not have actually caused a delay in the
final completion of a needed product. For example, a strike in a plant
manufacturing radios for aircraft would not delay their final assembly
if there already were shortages of other necessary parts.
27
28
STRIK ES IX
1941
Only in plants which were solely engaged in defense production,
and such were not numerous before the actual outbreak of war, could
all the workers and m an-days of idleness involved in a strike be charge
able to defense. In the general strike of electricians in N ew Y ork C ity
in July 1941 (see p. 25), only about 400 workers were idle on defense
construction jobs, while 28,000 were idle in the strike as a whole.
Adm ittedly, it m ay be a more accurate measure of defense-strike
activity to count this as a strike of 400 men, provided that all strikes
affecting defense work could be handled in a similar way. Practically,
such treatment is impossible, since in the m ajority of cases it is im
possible to segregate and determine the number of workers engaged
directly in defense work. Consequently, the figures used here for
the electrical workers’ strike include the idleness due to a stoppage o f
28,000 men. I t is obvious, therefore, that the figures on strike
activity shown below are a somewhat exaggerated indication of the
extent of delay in defense work due to strikes. T hey are indicative of
the intensity and nature of those individual strikes which, in part or
as a whole, affected defense production.
It must also be remembered that the idleness figures do not represent
production of any one specific defense material— it cannot be said
that “ because of these stoppages so many airplanes have not been
produced.” Equal amounts of idleness in different plants or in
dustries do not necessarily represent equivalent amounts of production
skill. W ork of unskilled construction workers or of maintenance
men in a steel mill cannot be substituted for the work of skilled
machinists in the production of aircraft.
M ore important defense strikes.— Defense strikes, as recorded b y the
Office of Production M anagement, were segregated into two groups,
i. e., those of primary defense importance, and those which were of
lesser importance, either because alternative sources of supply or
sufficient inventories were readily available or because no delay
developed in the final delivery date of the needed material.
O f the total 352 defense strikes, 159 were classified as of primary
defense importance. They constituted less than half of all strikes
which interfered with defense during the period, and amounted to
less than 3 percent of all strikes which occurred throughout industry
in the same period. These 159 strikes involved 343,260 workers
(12.5 percent of the workers involved in all strikes), and approxi
mately 3 K million man-days of idleness (12.7 percent of the total
man-days of idleness for all strikes during this period).
Less important defense strikes.— According to the Office of Production
Managem ent, there were 193 strikes which affected defense plants
but did not significantly interfere with the progress of the defense
program. These strikes (3.3 percent of all strikes in the period)
involved 304,420 workers (11.1 percent of all workers involved in
strikes), and about 3,420,000 m an-days of idleness (12.6 percent of
all idleness due to strikes).
Trend o f D efense Strikes
Beginning with 2 defense disputes in June 1940, the number
defense strikes increased fairly steadily until a peak was reached
October 1941. In general, the trend was quite similar to that
all strikes occurring in the period. The great number of m an-days
of
in
of
of
29
STRIK ES AFFECTING DEFENSE PRODUCTION
idleness in M arch 1941 was in large part due to the strike at the
International Harvester Co. in Illinois and Indiana, which continued
into that month. In April the relatively large number of workers
involved and man-days of idleness was primarily due to the strike of
85,000 workers at the Ford M otor Co.
The continued high level of de
fense-strike activity for M a y was due largely to the stoppages of 12,000
lumber workers in western Washington, over 9,000 machinists in San
Francisco and E ast B a y shipyards, and a sympathy strike of several
thousand building-trades workers in Detroit. The rise of idleness in
August is largely a consequence of the strike of about 15,000 shipyard
workers at the Federal Shipbuilding & D ry D ock Co. at Kearny, N . J.
The final peak of defense-strike activity in October was due to
numberous smaller stoppages, and to the w e ld e d strike involving
over 12,000 workers in west-coast shipyards.
T a ble 17.— Defense Strikes, June 1940 to December 7, 1941 1
Man-days of
idleness in
defense plants
in relation to
total working
time on de
fense produc
tion
Workers
involved
Man-days
of idleness
during
month
352
647,679
6,854,263
Junel....... ......................................................... .........
July___________________________________________
August________________________________________
September_____________________________________
2
2
1
4
1,669
899
860
8,724
October_______________________________________
November_____________________________________
December_________________________________ ____
8
7
5
13,003
17,873
14,568
184,087
215,061
122,550
January____________________________ __________
February----- --------------------------------------- -----------March_____________________ _______ __________ -
15
15
27
36,377
21,824
44,974
189,674
445,441 V
748,697
April__________________________________________
M ay________________________________________
June__________________________________________
15
24
15
104,072
79,194
34,986
1,031,853 I
679,261 }
442, 541
1.14
July___________________________________________
August________________________________________
September____________________ ________________
29
38
46
55,902
58,040
32,200
357,464
867,103
370,853
.65
October_______________________________________
November_____________________________________
December (to December 7)----------------------- ---------
69
23
7
96,472
23,087
2,955
650,863
312,979
41,563
Year and month
Total................. .........................................................
Number
beginning
in month
Percent by
quarter 1
2
0.71
1940
11,352
48,405 |
72,457 }
62,059
1
1
V
1
.35
.54
1941
1
J
J
1
[
1
1
}
J
.89
.40
1 The strikes included in this tabulation were limited, as indicated above, to those stoppages which either
directly interfered with the production of war materials or had a significant and obvious indirect effect.
After the entry of this country into the war, it was considered necessary to obtain a more inclusive picture of
strike activity in relation to the war program. Accordingly, an interdepartmental committee, representing
the Federal agencies directly concerned, developed a new and broader definition of war strikes and the
National War Labor Board assumed the function of releasing official data on “ all strikes appearing to affect
the war effort.” The official releases on this subject since Jan. 1,1942, have been based on the classification
made by the interdepartmental committee.
To permit a more exact comparison of war strike trends immediately before and after the attack on Pearl
Harbor, the committee has reclassified the strikes occurring during the last 3 months of 1941, using the broad
definition. On this basis, strikes affecting defense production resulted in idleness totaling 1,068,878 mandays in October, 726,049 man-days in November, and 159,448 man-days in December.
2 These percentages overstate the proportion of idle time on defense work during strikes because, as ex
plained previously, the idleness recorded for the 352 defense strikes is the total idleness of all workers in
volved in them. Only part of the workers in many of these strikes were actually engaged on defense work.
30
ST R IK E S IN
1941
Industries Affected by D efense Strikes
Defense strikes occurred in almost all industries, indicating the
far-reaching demands of the defense effort on the American economy.
However, they were naturally concentrated in those industries which
were largely engaged in defense production. T he 12 specific indus
tries listed in table 18 accounted for 62 percent of all defense strikes,
over 78 percent of the workers involved, and 66 percent of idleness
due to defense strikes. Some of these strikes were small stoppages
which affected defense production very little. However, m ost of the
larger strikes were of primary importance to the defense program,
and constituted the bulk of strike activity. In none of these indus
tries did the idleness due to defense strikes amount to as much as 1
percent of the total time worked on defense production.
In aluminum manufactures about 62 percent of the workers em
ployed were involved in defense strikes at some time during the 18month period. On the average, each lost 4 days on defense work.
This high number of workers is primarily due to several large but
brief strikes at various plants of the Aluminum Co. of America. In
the shipbuilding industry over 40 percent of the workers on defense
production were idle, on the average, about 10 days.
A b ou t 18
percent of the aircraft workers were idle due to defense strikes, losing
an average of nearly 4% days. In blast furnaces, steel works, and
rolling mills about 17% percent of the workers were idle during defense
strikes, each losing an average of 3% days during the period of June
1940 to December 7, 1941.
T able 18.— Extent o f Defense-Strike A ctivity in Selected Industries, June 1940 to
December 7, 1941
Industry
Aircraft________________ _______ _________________________
Aluminum manufactures_________________________________
Automobiles, bodies, and parts______________ ____ _________
Blast furnaces, steel works, and rolling m ills..........................
Brass, bronze, and copper p r o d u c t s ._____________________
Building and construction_____ _____________________ ____ _
Cars, electric- and steam-railroad__________________________
Electrical machinery, apparatus, and supplies........... ..............
Foundry and machine-shop products_______ _____________ _
Machine tools___________________________________________
Sawmills and logging camps_____ ____ ____________ ______ _
Shipbuilding...________ _________________________________
Number of
strikes
18
9
23
35
9
28
13
13
33
9
7
21
Workers
involved
29,081
21,065
117,420
96,055
6,278
75, 745
14,766
8,914
31,617
7,076
31,013
67,593
Man-days of
idleness
125,539
84,027
941,961
328, 248
129,411
403,076
152, 743
355,747
663,026
76,682
587,482
688,352
Duration o f D efense Strikes
Defense strikes lasted a little over 21 days, on the average, as com
pared with about 18 days for all strikes. W hile 40 percent of all
strikes lasted less than 1 week, only 27 percent of those classified as
defense strikes were settled within a week. M ore than 22 percent of
the defense strikes lasted a month or longer in contrast to 18 percent
of all strikes as indicated below. The apparent longer duration of
defense strikes m ay be due entirely to the factor of identification, that
is, some brief stoppages m ay not have been classified as defense strikes
solely because they did not last long enough to affect vital production.
31
STRIK ES AFFECTING DEFENSE PRODUCTION
On the other hand, the relatively longer duration, on the average, m ay
indicate that the controversies which occasioned workers on defense
production to take the extreme measure of striking must have been
unusually acute and difficult to settle.
Duration of strikes
Defense strikes
Percent
Less than 1 week____________
1 week and less than %month
and less than 1 month_____
1 and less than 2 months_____
2 and less than 3 months_____
3 months or more____________
____ 26. 7
____ 29. 5
____ 21. 3
____ 15. 1
____
4. 8
____
2. 6
All strikes
Percent
40.
24.
17.
11.
3.
3.
3
1
6
9
1
0
M a jor Issues Involved in D efense Strikes
The causes or major issues involved in defense strikes were not
unlike those in all other strikes occurring during the same period,
although a greater proportion of the workers were involved in dis
putes over union recognition matters. In about 30 percent of the
defense strikes, questions of union recognition and union status were
the major or sole issues; but they involved over 40 percent of all the.
workers in strikes affecting defense plants.
Defense strikes over wages were smaller, on the average, than union
organization strikes. Demands for wage increases were the major
causes of a third of the defense strikes and these included about 30
percent of all workers. B oth union recognition and wages were issues
in about 19 percent of the defense strikes, these including less than
8 percent of the total involved in all defense strikes. Interunion and
intraunion disputes accounted for 12 percent of the defense strikes,
and specific grievances of various kinds for the remainder.
T a ble 19.— M ajor Issues Involved in Defense Strikes, June 1940 to December 7, 7941,
With Comparisons for A ll Strikes
All defense strikes
Major issues
Strikes
All strikes
Workers involved
Strikes
Workers
involved
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Total____________ ____ _____ - ____ _____
352
100.0
647,679
100.0
Percent
100.0
Percent
100.0
Wages and hours __________ ____ ______
Wage increases____________________
Other changes in wages and hours___
117
109
8
33.3
31.0
2.3
193,351
187,967
5,384
29.9
29.1
.8
34.1
28.7
5.4
145.6
41.0
4.6
Union recognition and wages— ............ .
66
18.7
49,087
7.6
23.6
10.0
Union organization........................... .........
Recognition_______________________
Strengthening bargaining position___
Closed or union shop___________ ____
Discrimination and other...................
103
28
16
33
26
29.3
8.0
4.5
9.4
7.4
263,629
147,191
55,022
37,871
23,545
40.6
22.7
8.5
5.8
3.6
26.2
9.6
2.0
9.1
5.5
21.8
7.4
3.8
7.2
3.4
Rival unions or factions. ......................... —
Jurisdiction........................... .....................
Sympathy............................ ......................
Other issues______ ______ — .....................
Not reported
___________________
31
11
2
22
8.8
3.1
.6
6.2
52,267
26,235
15,129
47,981
8.1
4.1
2.3
7.4
3.9
2.4
1.1
7.8
.9
4.7
1.6
5.6
10.5
.2
1 The relatively high proportion of workers who were involved in wage disputes during the 18-month
period is due in some part to the general wage strike in coal mines in April 1941, which alone involved about
318,000 workers.
32
S T R IK E S I X
1941
Although the m ajority of the wage strikes were related to the general
situation of business prosperity and a rapidly rising cost of living,
some of the wage disputes arose from the existence of geographic and
plant differences in wage rates for similar work. A n example is the
aircraft industry on the west coast, where wage rates were considerably
below those for similar work in the automobile industry. Tw o of the
most bitter labor disputes occurring in the defense period were those
of the United Automobile, Aircraft, and Agricultural Implement
W orkers (C. I. O.) at Vultee Aircraft, Inc., in Novem ber 1940, and at
North American Aviation, Inc., in June 1941 (see p. 25).
In both
cases the minimum wage rate had been 50 cents per hour, and the
union asked for a 75-cent minimum to correspond to that in the
automobile industry. Relative wage scales as between various plants
in the region were also at issue in these disputes.
The problem of overtime rates also came to the foreground as many
defense industries began working a 48- or 54-hour week. The most
important example of strikes resulting from disputes concerning over
time rates was the stoppage of over 9,000 machinists in San Francisco
shipyards in M a y 1941. The San Francisco local of the A . F . of L .
' International Association of M achinists refused to permit the reduc
tion of their double rate for overtime to time and one-half as provided
for in the Pacific coast master shipbuilding agreement, which was
signed by most of the major shipyards and by the international
officers of the I. A . M .
The dissident local members eventually re
turned to work as ordered by their international officers at the reduced
overtime rate.
There were also several large stoppages of A . F. of L . building trades
men protesting the agreement made between the Office of Production
M anagem ent and the Building Trades Departm ent of the A . F . of L .
to reduce overtime rates from double time to time and one-half.
Other types of wage disputes occurred as a result of problems
peculiar to war conditions. For example, there were several strikes
of seamen for increased war bonuses to compensate for the increased
risks of shipping.
M a n y of the organizational strikes were struggles of long standing
to gain union recognition. Some were attempts to extend the scope
of the bargaining unit, or to establish greater union security b y obtain
ing a closed or union shop. Some were disputes between an affiliated
union and a plant organization of workers. In m any of these cases,
National Labor Relations Board rulings or elections became important
factors in their settlement. A n example of the latter was the strike
called b y the Farm Equipment Workers Organizing Committee
(C. I. O.) at five Illinois and Indiana plants of the International
Harvester Co. in January 1941 (see p. 23), in which more than 15,000
workers were involved. A large number of defense strikes were not
responses to a new situation, but were a continuation of a process of
organization begun earlier. A strike in April 1941 at the Ford M otor
Co. (see p. 24), for example, was the culmination of several years'
efforts of the C . I. O. to gain union recognition.
A number of the strikes involving union status were attempts by
the unions involved to maintain their position in the face of an influx
of new workers who might not be union men. A n example is the
strike called by the International Union of Marine and Shipbuilding
ST R IK E S AFFECTIN G DEFENSE PRODUCTION
33
Workers of America (C. I. O .) at the Federal Shipbuilding and D ry
D ock C o., Kearny, N . J., in August 1941 (see p. 25).
Defense strikes while agreements were in effect.— Some of the defense
strikes occurred while union agreements were in effect. The causes
for these differed somewhat from the larger number which took place
while no agreement was in effect, and m any of them were unauthorized
by the national leadership of the union involved. W hile about onefourth of the stoppages while agreements were in effect were concerned
with union organization matters they were not, of course, over formal
union recognition but were concerned with questions of alleged anti
union discrimination and union security issues. Alm ost 13 percent
of the defense strikes occurring while an agreement was in effect were
due to rival union, factional or jurisdictional'disputes, the m ost im
portant of which was the strike of the Pacific Coast welders in Oc
tober 1941.
(See page 26.)
Seventeen percent pertained to such
grievances as piece-work procedures, company failure to handle griev
ances quickly, etc.
The high percentage of wage strikes (over 45 percent of the total)
among those which occurred during the life of an agreement, indicates
the difficulties which arose when a sharp rise in the cost of living took
place after the agreement was signed. A n example of this was the
2-day stoppage of 4,100 United Automobile W o r k e d (C. I . O.) mem
bers at sixplants of the Bohn Alum inum & Brass Corporation at Detroit
and Ham tram ck, M ich ., in June 1941. The union agreement in effect
had been signed December 11, 1940, before any material change in
living costs had occurred. W hen the union asked for a wage increase
to meet the rising cost of living, the company refused on the basis that
the wage rates were frozen for the duration of the existing agreement.
This stoppage was eventually settled by the National Defense M edia
tion Board with a wage increase of 8 cents per hour. A n increasing
number of agreements negotiated after the cost of living began to rise
included automatic reopening provisions to permit interim wage ad
justments.
Several other stoppages during agreements also revolved around
the rigidity of a written contract signed before the defense emergency
brought rapid economic changes and readjustments in production
methods. For example, the Aluminum Co. of America and the Alum i
num Workers of America (C. I. O .) signed an agreement in Novem ber
1939 covering the plant at Edgewater, N . J. In M arch 1941, when
the plant began operating 24 hours a day and 7 days a week on de
fense production, an 11-day strike occurred due to a dispute over the
interpretation of the agreement concerning the newly emerged problem
of Sunday overtime pay.
Discharge cases precipitated a number of defense strikes during
the life of an agreement. A t the plants of the Chevrolet M otor Co.
and the Fisher B ody Corporation at Oakland, Calif., in M arch 1941,
for example, when 1 welder was laid off for alleged inefficiency 25 other
men stopped work, charging the company with attempting a “ speedup.”
The company discharged them for participating in a stoppage in vio
lation of the existing agreement.
The United Automobile Workers .
(C. I. O .) demanded the reinstatement of the men, claiming that the
company had failed to abide b y the agreement b y discharging the men
without representation. A 17-day strike of nearly 2,300 workers
resulted, and was ended with the reinstatement of 24 men and arbi
tration of the cases of the remaining 2.
34
STRIK ES IX
1941
Other specific grievances or alleged agreement violations which
caused strikes were the result of faulty grievance or arbitration m a
chinery. A 24-day stoppage involving 530 workers occurred at the
American Engineering C o., Philadelphia, Pa., in September 1941, in
which the company and the Industrial Union of M arine & Ship
building Workers (C. I. O .) accused each other of violating a contract
signed in January 1941. The union charged that the company was
hiring men at rates below the minimum specified in the agreement,
and claimed that the company would not meet with the grievance
committee or arbitrate the dispute as provided for in the agreement.
The company maintained that the issue was not a proper grievance
under the terms of the agreement. Production was resumed only
after conferences with the National Defense M ediation Board.
Results o f D efense Strikes
A considerably la,rger proportion of defense strikes than of all
strikes occurring during the same period resulted in compromise
settlements, and smaller proportions were lost or won.
(See table 20.)
This was largely due to two factors: First, workers in defense plants
were generally conscious of the seriousness of prolonged interruption
to production and were probably more willing to accept compromises
than were other strikers; second, a very high proportion of defensestrike settlements were effected with the assistance of Government
agencies which, under the pressure of public opinion, influenced
defense strikers to return on the basis of compromise settlements
rather than to hold out in an attem pt to obtain all of their demands.
In relation to cause, strikes for wage increases resulted in a somewhat
greater number of compromise settlements than stoppages over union
organization problems. Of the wage strikes, about 30 percent resulted
in substantial gains to the workers and only 3% percent were lost,
while nearly 65 percent ended in compromises. Correspondingly, in
nearly 33 percent of disputes over union organization the workers
substantially won their demands, in nearly 8 percent little or no gains
resulted, while a little over 58 percent of the strikes resulted in partial
gains or compromises.
T a ble 20.— Results o f D efense Strikes Compared W ith A ll Strikes, June 1940 to
December 7, 1941
All defense strikes
Results
Strikes
All strikes
Workers involved
Strikes
Workers
involved
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Total....... ................. ....................... .........
352
100.0
647,679
100.0
Percent
100.0
Percent
100.0
Substantial gains to workers____________
Partial gains or compromises____________
Little or no gains to workers____________
Jurisdiction, rival union, or faction settle
ments________________________ ____ _ Indeterminate--------- ---------------------------- j
96
187
22
27.3
53.2
6.2
196,925
331,376
25,990
30.4
51.2
4.0
42.6
34.0
15.1
41.6
42.8
6.4
42
5
11.9
1.4
78,502
14,886
12.1
2.3
6.3
1.2
.8
6.2
2.9
.1
N ot re.nortp.d
_
.
35
ST R IK E S AFFECTING DEFENSE PRODUCTION
M ethods o f Negotiating Settlements
In the overwhelming m ajority of defense strikes, the return of the
men to work came partially, at least, as a result of the efforts of
some Government agency. Only 14 out of the 352 defense strikes
were settled without the intervention of a Government agency and in
11 other cases the workers returned without any kind of settlement.
M a n y of the stoppages affecting defense production were terminated
when the workers were assured that their grievances would be given
consideration b y a Government agency or that their dispute would be
submitted to impartial arbitration. A return to work at the instiga
tion of a Government agency did not necessarily mean that the issues
had been finally settled or that the grievances had been adjusted.
A considerable variety of agencies participated in settling disputes,
either alone or in various combinations. The Conciliation Service of
the United States Departm ent of Labor rendered assistance in an
estimated 85 percent of the cases. Settlements were aided b y State
mediation or conciliation officials in about 30 percent of the defense
strikes, sometimes in conjunction with Federal agencies. The Office
of Production Managem ent, and its predecessor the National Defense
Advisory Commission, participated in ending about 42 percent of
the stoppages, independently or with another Government agency.
The W a r Department, N a v y Department, and United States M ari
time Commission assisted in settling a number of cases in which they
had particular interest.
T able 21.— M ethods o f Negotiating Settlements o f Defense Strikes and o f A ll Strikes,
June 1940 to December 7, 1941
All defense strikes
Settlement negotiations carried on by
Workers involved
Number
Total____________ _
- ______________
Employers and employees directly______
Employers and representatives of organ
ized workers directly_________________
Government officials or boards________ _
Private conciliators or arbitrators_______
Terminated without formal settlement—
All strikes
Percent
Number
Percent
352
100.0
647,679
100.0
14
327
4.0
92.0
26,424
598,965
4.1
92.5
11
3.1
22,290
3.4
Total
strikes
Percent
100.0
Total
workers
involved
Percent
100.0
1. 7
.5
36.2
49.7
.9
11.5
25.0
70.7
.3
3.5
A special agency to settle defense strikes, the National Defense
M ediation Board, established on M arch 19, 1941, participated in the
settlement of 85 strikes during its 9 months' existence. O f these, 61
were already in progress when certified to the Board and 24 developed
after the dispute was referred to the Board. N o t all of these cases
are included in these defense-strike figures since some disputes were
certified to the Board before they actually interfered with the pro
duction of vital materials, but which threatened to cause interruption
if not settled promptly.
APPENDIX
M ethods Used in Collecting and A na lyzing Strike Statistics
The Bureau’s strike statistics include all known strikes in the con
tinental United States which involve as many as six workers and last
as long as a full day or shift. The term “ strike” is used in the broad
sense to include all stoppages of work due to labor disputes regardless
of whether the workers or employers initiate them. Although they
technically come within the above definitions, the Bureau arbitrarily
excludes from its statistics stoppages involving fewer than six workers
and those lasting less than a full working day or shift, principally
because it would be impossible to find out about all of such minor
stoppages and get a complete coverage. Also such disputes are of
little importance, arising many times from misunderstandings which
are cleared up within a few minutes or a few hours with no significant
interruption in production.
Collection o f data.— M ost notices or “ leads” concerning strikes
originally come to the Bureau’s attention through the daily press and
labor and trade papers. The Bureau now has access to notices on
labor disputes from about 400 daily newspapers scattered throughout
the country and more than 250 labor and industry papers and journals.
I t also obtains reports directly from Federal and State agencies which
deal with employer-employee disputes. W ith these sources it is be
lieved that few, if any, strikes escape attention. Upon receipt of the
notices, detailed questionnaires are sent to the companies, unions, and
impartial agencies involved in each strike to get first-hand and verified
information concerning the number of workers involved, duration of
the strike, major issue, methods of settlement, results, and other data.
A nalysis o f strike data.— In all the realm of industrial statistics,
employer-employee disputes present some of the m ost baffling prob
lems to be dealt with. In addition to the factor of judgment which
enters into all statistical procedure, strikes and lock-outs, by their
very nature, lead to differences of viewpoint and approach in their
measurement and classification. Since they are controversies in
which the interests of employer, workers, and the public are at stake,
each group naturally interprets and evaluates the situation in the way
the dispute affects it. This divergency of viewpoint persists through
out every phase of the statistical treatment of strikes and lock-outs—
definition, unit of measurement, magnitude, causes, and results.
Furthermore, the facts with reference to strikes and lock-outs very
often are too complex or indeterminate to permit accurate and simple
classification from whatever approach they are viewed. Causes lead
ing up to any one dispute m ay be many and varied and the basic
causes m ay never be actually voiced by either party. So also with
the results, especially when the dispute ends with no written contract.
In view of these divergencies of approach as well as of the difficulty
in always getting sufficiently detailed information, a portion of the
statistics on strikes is necessarily based on estimates and judgment.
Nevertheless, through the use of specific definitions and the adoption
of broad general policies, the Bureau tries to obtain the highest possible
degree of comparability and uniformity of treatment.3
8 See Bureau of Labor Statistics Bull. No. 651, pp. 163-169, for information on factors taken into account
and general principles used in analyzing each item included in the statistical reports.
T able 22.— Strikes in 1941 , b y Indu stry and M ajor Issues Involved 1
Number of strikes beginning in 1941
Number of workers involved
Total
Major issues *
Major issues1
Major issuesi
Industry
Man-days idle during 1941
Wages and
hours
Union
organiza
tion
Total
Wages and
hours
Union
organiza
tion
Total
Wages and
hours
Union
organiza
tion
24,288
1,539
2,110
2,362,620
1,108,071
741,458
23,047, 556
10,422, 578
10,094,047
2S32
104
11
4
126
44
1
170
45
8
4
243, 749
158,496
4,101
1,535
85, 313
49,066
102
121,638
79,465
2,737
1,535
1,442,253
475,648
26,531
48,198
512,256
196,491
816
778,209
214,689
18,949
48,198
4
14
9
25
28
20
24
13
5
33
40
1
6
2
13
11
10
6
2
2
14
14
3
6
6
12
15
5
16
10
2
19
19
665
4,621
1,310
7,446
12,032
5,764
5,590
5,755
680
17, 210
18,544
136
2,949
49
5,209
3,494
2,745
1,160
2,646
119
7,304
10,334
529
1,345
1,238
2,237
8,316
1,460
3,957
3,027
545
9,906
5,341
15,452
35,713
16,174
88,628
84,780
97, 585
35,192
160, 066
11,774
197,945
148,567
2,448
8,165
555
46, 775
23,056
30, 990
14,243
103, 906
931
52,788
31,092
13,004
21,996
15,412
41,853
61,072
35,715
17,543
55,670
10,779
145,157
78,172
Machinery, not including transportation equipment.........................
Agricultural implements__________________________________
Cash registers, adding machines, and typewriters______ _____
Electrical machinery, apparatus, and supplies........ ........... ......
Engines, turbines, tractors, and water wheels. .......................
Foundry and machine-shop products.........................................
Machine tools (power driven)................... ..................................
Radios and phonographs..............................................................
Textile machinery and parts___________
____
____
Other........................ ........... .........................................................
2286
14
3
64
10
117
14
23
2
42
111
5
2
23
3
42
4
12
128,407
19, 792
4, 297
19,954
3, 577
47,666
7,427
6,903
1,102
17,689
51,940
1,640
3,164
10, Oil
1,875
14, 018
4,626
4,732
11,874
64,447
18,104
1,133
5,861
842
28,195
2,133
1,951
1,102
5,126
2,213,911
490,819
88,691
475, 060
26,957
778,888
76,682
56, 763
4,206
215,845
524,354
15, 452
62,810
118, 928
10, 586
104, 793
46, 532
34,941
20
142
8
1
32
3
60
6
10
2
20
130,312
1,587,155
474,503
25,881
279,556
11,219
658,901
28,522
20, 722
4,206
83,645
Transportation equipment...................................................................
A ircraft............................................. ..........................................
Automobiles, bodies, and parts....................................................
Cars, electric- and steam-railroad..............................................
Locomotives______ ________ ______ _______________ _________
Shipbuilding..................................................................................
Other................................. ...........................................................
185
29
77
29
2
45
3
59
10
20
16
1
10
2
72
12
31
6
1
21
1
394,056
28,422
250, 592
24,594
565
88,039
1,844
136,666
16,920
85,267
11,739
365
20,537
1,838
149, 964
4,455
100, 815
8, 271
200
36,217
6
2,294,136
112, 549
1, 234, 242
232, 298
2,235
705,902
6,910
627,826
69,950
218,436
68, 795
1,095
262, 706
6,844
1,264,575
22,208
805, 259
117, 225
1,140
318,677
66
See footnotes at end o f table.
A P P E N D IX
All industries................................................................. i .....................
Iron and steel and their products, not including machinery.............
Blast furnaces, steel works, and rolling mills......... ...................
Bolts, nuts, washers, and rivets____________________________
Cast-iron pipe and fittings_________________________________
Cutlery (not including silver and plated cutlery), and edge
tools________________________________ ______ ______ ______
Forgings, iron and steel................ ...............................................
Hardware_____________________ ___________________ _______
Plumbers’ supplies and fixtures____________________________
Steam and hot-water heating apparatus and steam fittings____
Stoves___________________________________ ____ ___________
Structural and ornamental metal work_____________________
Tin cans and other tinware. _________ _____ ______________
Tools (not including edge tools, machine tools, files, and saws)..
Wire and wire products_________________ ______ ____ _______
Other..............................................................................................
CO
•<!
co
T able 22 .— Strikes
00
Z94J, by Industry and M ajor Issues Involved — Continued
Number of strikes beginning in 1941
Number of workers involved
Man-days idle during 1941
Major issues
Major issues
Major issues
Industry
Total
Wages and
hours
Total
Wages and
hours
Union
organiza
tion
Total
323, 937
77. 562
27,068
172,905
46,402
949, 527
229, 303
122, 279
445, 805
152,140
655, 646
170, 353
7,155
139, 382
434
131, 265
207,057
178, 304
92, 616
4,115
32
1, 281
3, 322
19,137
2,709
285
4, 706
36
4, 300
7,101
34,694
362
13,035
37, 597
435,997
77, 317
5, 913
80, 277
72
106, 793
165, 625
58,497
40,208
975
19, 305
52
1,686
4,471
12, 743
976
59, 300
22,958
96
8,137
77
2, 943
3,138
4,065
4, 502
1, 683, 568
873,920
8, 013
338, 255
1,175
52, 275
64, 777
224, 065
185,360
401,797
280,263
6,073
146, 531
156
14, 591
31, 753
65,885
15, 274
1,052,090
455, 095
1,940
134,107
1, 019
37, 684
33, 024
92, 295
155, 026
21,238
5,521
2,608
9, 516
3,593
39, 364
10, 853
5, 657
18,065
4,789
39,694
10,030
354
12,454
68
6,167
10, 621
16,011
7,261
9
2
6
17
69
17
3
9
1
13
26
159
76
4
24
1
4
10
20
13
284
92
3
12
2
11
9
16
39
144,769
81,995
1,071
36, 779
129
4,629
7,609
25,178
6,600
77
9
15
3
3
8
5
2
10
22
43,740
19,980
9,889
1, 585
385
2,429
468
1, 276
4,316
3, 382
19,876
13,843
1,418
Lumber and allied products____________________
Furniture_____________________ _____ _____
Millwork and planing_____________________
Sawmills and logging camps______ ____ ____
Other____________________________________
286
105
54
55
72
96
36
16
16
28
155
61
30
27
37
Stone, clay, and glass products__________________
Brick, tile, and terra cotta_________________
Cement__________________________________
Glass_____________________________________
Marble, granite, slate, and other products___
Pottery---------------------------------------------------Other-------------------- -----------------------------------
136
40
4
20
3
22
47
56
22
Textiles and their products-------------------------------Fabrics___________________________________
Carpets and rugs_______________________
Cotton goods__________________________
Cotton smallwares_____________________
Dyeing and finishing textiles-----------------Silk and rayon goods... . -----------------------Woolen and worsted goods--------------------Other_________________________________
507
198
7
49
3
15
19
43
62
2
4
1
3
4 '
12
155,726 |
52, 529
65,846
ST R IK E S IN" 1 9 4 1
1, 323, 550
315,420
162, 481
641, 709
203,940
67, 740
17, 583
10, 736
29,391
10,030
35
5
4
Union
organiza
tion
471'
5,065
116
2,551
14. 820
14, 325
1H)'
392
29
1,242
1, 574
l, 259
413,301
73,405
140,792
33 022
7,852
51. 198
14,535
3,210
47, 788
40, 599
*129
20
22
4
5
14
7
5
17
30
Wages and
hours
226,828
16,583
74,227
33.820
7, 381
41.873
14, 296
656
13. 343
24.649
19,051
4, 563
8,102
1,568
266
1,419
398
34
813
1,858
Nonferrous metals and their products___________
Aluminum manufactures__________________
Brass, bronze, and copper products................
Clocks, watches, and time-recording devices..
Jewelry___________________________ ____
Lighting equipment_______________________
Silverware and plated ware________________
Smelting and refining—copper, lead, and zinc
Stamped and enameled ware_______________
Other____________________________________
Union
organiza
tion
Wearing apparel______ _________
Clothing, men’s____________
Clothing, women’s_________
Corsets and allied garments _.
Men’s furnishings__________
Hats, caps, and millinery___
Shirts and collars___________
Hosiery____________________
Knit goods...____ __________
Other_____________________
Leather and its manufactures............
Boots and shoes________________
Leather_______________________
Other leather goods____________
Food and kindred products_________
Baking________________________
Beverages_____________________
Butter________________________
Canning and preserving________
Confectionery__________________
Flour and grain mills___________
Ice cream______________________
Slaughtering and meat packing...
Sugar refining, cane____________
Other_________________________
Tobacco manufactures______________
Cigars_________________________
Cigarettes_________ ____________
Other........................ .....................
Paper and printing...............................
Boxes, p a p e r...._______________
Paper and pulp________________
Printing and publishing:
Book and job______________
Newspapers and periodicals.
Other_________________________
Chemicals and allied products............
Chemicals-................. ................
Cottonseed—oil, cake, and meal..
Druggists’ preparations_________
Explosives_____________________
Fertilizers............................. ........
Paints and varnishes.............. ......
Petroleum refining........................
Soap______ _______ _____________
Other_________________________
See footnotes at end o f table.
192
8
113
2
6
8
10
8
29
8
62.774
3,392
12,226
2,863
3,197
1,788
8,156
10,992
15,585
4,375
18,289
573
4,938
510
660
1, 235
2, 500
6,153
1,184
536
36,342
800
6,310
793
1,945
476
5,037
4, 559
13,273
3,149
809,648
29,929
155,164
60,613
51,402
19,607
57,900
106, 493
283, 915
44,625
121,534
3, 651
30,495
4,590
4,080
3, 234
22,185
41, 351
9,875
2,073
596,995
24, 002
113,989
17, 703
34,995
15,428
30,971
64,141
254,784
40,982
52
22
7
23
27, 883
18,489
4,373
5,021
13, 540
11,573
1,542
425
11,183
4, 515
2,664
4,004
219, 876
111, 551
47,650
60, 675
82, 965
59,117
14,573
9,275
108,482
35,099
28,902
44,481
130
29
11
69,782
15, 378
6, 273
192
15,196
2,617
2,831
456
12, 026
5,568
9,245
38,189
11,434
2,427
192
11, 606
718
2,036
26, 360
2,849
3,189
988,457
242,458
36, 573
1.416
136,332
67, 391
44, 539
901
212, 727
167,479
78,641
552, 548
177,153
13, 039
1,416
111, 335
6,939
19,402
384, 521
39,283
16,124
9
8
1
8, 517
8,048
321
148
148
8,369
8,048
321
106,246
102,912
3,186
148
148
148
2
24
11
19,494
5,096
3,353
4, 554
405
806
13,336
3,923
2,016
324, 567
37,103
48, 259
74,630
3,232
6,040
233, 794
21, 819
41, 430
17
17
23
2,645
3,291
5,109
219
740
2,384
2,426
2, 530
2,441
57, 779
75,010
106, 416
5,503
2,791
57,064
52. 276
71,778
46,491
53
13
4
3
2
21,411
12, 253
432
607
306
274
2,289
1, 534
184
3,532
8,461
4,955
121
540
86
225
172
1,036
12,032
6,722
311
67
220
315, 581
169, 782
4,365
5, 659
6,071
1, 566
37, 951
7,885
1, 441
80,861
104, 510
70,192
338
4,980
86
1,125
4,596
5,121
207, 769
98,143
4,027
679
5,985
17
14
7
3
27
1
21
10
1
3
17
2,176
4, 590
3,010
148
1,326
3,043
1,899
748
380
9,292
10
4,950
2,092
375
184
2,061
24, 753
163, 631
34,830
18,072
24,091
60,452
24,855
745
183, 029
20
35,927
106, 098
102,912
3.186
33,066
2,406
1, 441
62,022
CO
CD
T able 22.— Strikes in 1941 , by Industry and M ajor Issues Involved — Continued
Number of strikes beginning in 1941
Total
4
138
29
69
18
12
1
2
4
2
1
129
41
88
86
37
15
16
8
23
10
11
2
1
8
62
3
5
3
51
41
5
19
8
5
Union
organiza
tion
24
5
2
17
85
7
2
4
72
31
1
13
6
6
3
2
77
18
37
13
6
Total
Wages and
hours
5,273
2,778
517
1,978
9, 654
53
273
444
8,884
478,387
92, 557
383,829
1,296
348
263
82
181
125
65
1
32
14
39,237
9,862
22, 591
6,784
24,344
1,092
308
603
22, 341
737, 302
136,888
593, 352
5,364
782
471
445
50,406
9,270
19,775
10,138
2,985
6,107
1,163
627
194
147
50,779
13,588
37,191
29,022
9,781
8,057
7,247
2,425
357
29, 886
5,007
15,431
7,140
1,201
243
172
564
26
102
23,900
4,643
19,257
20,072
4,796
8,015
4,874
1,951
13
1,512
436
1
1
1
Union
organiza
tion
Total
Wages and
hours
Union
organiza
tion
58, 550
4,534
20,613
33,403
100,083
508
3,252
5,862
90,461
5, 707, 519
97, 023
5, 589, 678
12, 322
6,844
23,060
8, 512
14,548
7,946
4,237
42
2,117
474
155,099
22,826
58,084
74,189
328,874
7,735
6,538
8,248
306, 353
7,226,061
423, 299
6, 747, 986
35, 520
14, 039
3,224
1,993
425,099
44,597
218,343
83,491
22,679
29,387
22,219
2,331
285
1,767
1,034,312
237,869
796,443
303, 790
173,220
51,651
50,948
9,393
1,652
266,902
25, 451
162,032
63,300
10,700
1, 215
756
1,764
52
1,632
256,662
29,107
227, 555
128, 895
47, 492
50,635
21, 573
5,955
753,492
203,172
550,320
163,901
119,122
1,016
24,987
3,438
1,076
18, 578
3,240
15,338
10,353
5,655
662
4,036
13,009
980
35
150
11,844
68,081
1, 552
63,180
2,498
343
471
37
6,165
1,437
2,736
1,225
540
158
63
6
60,756
13,863
10,459
36,434
196,015
6,882
3,286
2,079
183, 768
733,702
6,208
710, 220
8,050
5,809
3,224
191
75,114
7,579
49,545
6,530
9,797
1,090
567
6
1941
42
9
5
28
161
12
7
8
134
143
27
75
17
13
3
8
268
67
120
38
23
3
5
5
5
2
421
138
283
227
113
16
53
22
Major issues
ST R IK E S IN
Wholesale—----------------- ---------------------------------------------------Retail____________________________________________________
Domestic and personal service.................... .......................................
Hotels, restaurants, and boarding houses-------------------- --------Personal service, barbers, beauty parlors_______________ ____
Laundries-------------------------------- -------------------------------------Dyeing, cleaning, and pressing---------- -------------- -----------Elevator and maintenance workers (when not attached to spe
cific industry)..... ...... ..................... - ----- -----------------------------
Wages and
hours
Man-days idle during 1941
Major issues
Major issues
Industry
Rubber products.................................................................................
Rubber boots and shoes....... .......................................................
Rubber tires and inner tubes............... ...................................... .
Other rubber goods.......................... .......................................... .
Miscellaneous manufacturing—....................................... ..................
Electric light, power, and manufactured gas_____________
Broom and brush............... ........... ..................... .............
... .
Furriers and fur factories__________________________________
Other_________________________ _______________ __________
Extraction of minerals_________________________________________
Coal mining, anthracite_____________________________ ______
Coal mining, bituminous______________________ ___ _______
Metalliferous mining_______________ ______ ____ _____ ______
Quarrying and nonmetallic mining________ _______________
Crude-petroleum production_____________________ _______
Other____________________________________________________
Transportation and communication................... ................................
Water transportation__ _______ ___________________________
Motortruck transportation------- --------- --------- --------------- -----Motorbus tra n sp o rta tio n -----------------------------------------------Taxicabs and miscellaneous----- --------- ---------------------- -------Electric railroad
_ ___________________________________
Steam railroad___ ________________________________________
Telephone and telegraph------------ ---------------------------------Radio broadcasting and transmitting............. .......................... .
Other______________________________ _____ ________________
Number of workers involved
Professional service............. ................................................................
Recreation and amusement------------------------------- ---------------Professional___________ _____________________ ______ _______
Semiprofessional, attendants,-and helpers___ ____ __________
29
17
6
6
13
10
1
2
14
5
5
4
2,128
1,259
329
540
703
556
123
24
1,319
597
206
516
47, 632
20,705
1,298
25,629
2,014
1,835
123
56
43,682
16,934
1,175
25, 573
Building and construction..................................................................
Buildings, exclusive of P. W. A ____________________________
All other construction (bridges, docks, etc., and P. W. A. build
ings)_________________________ _________________________
395
324
149
129
124
93
186,473
179,035
67,966
65,494
54,697
51,422
923,216
880,768
262,532
252,324
231,275
212,315
71
20
31
7,438
2,472
3,275
42,448
10,208
18,960
Agriculture and fishing.............. .........................................................
Agriculture............................ ................................................. ......
Fishing
- __________________________________________
32
26
6
22
16
6
8
8
14,406
12,134
2,272
7,270
4,998
2,272
6,094
6,094
494,037
471,121
22,916
41,979
19,063
22,916
447,016
447,016
5
124
3
57
51
188
19,093
10,527
154
6,399
3,859
124,485
58,441
3.787
50,262
V - P. A. and relief projects
_ .
Other nonmanufacturing industries.------- ------------- ------ --------
1 Issues other than wages, hours, and union organization are included in
the total but are not shown separately in this table.
2 This figure is less than the exact sum of the figures below. This is due to
APPEND IX
the fa ct that the general strike o f m achinists in the St. Louis area, November
24 -26, has been counted as a separate strike in each industry affected, with
the proper allocation o f number o f workers involved and man-days idle.
42
T
ST R IK E S IK
able
1941
23 .— Strikes in 1941 , in States Which H ad 25 or M ore Strikes D uring the Year,
by Industry Group
State and industry group
Alabama____________________________________ ________________
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery__________
Machinery, excluding transportation equipment_________ ____
Transportation equipment.................... ______ _______ _________
Lumber and allied products ____________ _______ __________
Stone, clay, and glass products_________ ____________________
Textiles and their products______________ __________________
Food and kindred products _______________ ______________
Miscellaneous manufacturing_______ ____ ____ _______ _______
Transportation and communication
_________ ___________
______________________________ ____ __________
Trade
Domestic and personal service__________________________ ____
Building and construction ________________________________
Other nonmanufacturing industries_________ ________________
Arkansas___ __________________________________________________
Nonferrous metals and their products . _________ __________
Lumber and allied products ___________ __________________
Stone, clay, and glass products ______ _____________________
Food and kindred products ______________________________
Transportation and communication_________________________
Building and construction ________________________________
Number
of strikes
Number
Man-days
of workers idle during
involved
year
80
11
2
4
7
6
7
3
1
2
7
6
5
7
10
2
112,486
24,182
222
5,930
528
540
4,053
254
185
371
72,857
3C9
246
577
2,192
40
861,891
54,652
1,346
33,822
12,165
9,184
43,271
3,385
16, 280
2,439
662,639
3,610
2,422
6,318
8,970
1,388
30
7,063
12
2
1
1
3
7
3
1
4,044
518
48
15
186
227
1,825
20Q
64,272
1377
44,645
5,441
1,728
681
2,789
2,314
6,097
200
384
22
19
18
9
25
10
21
5
28
5
5
4
10
12
24
54
24
7
50
19
114,134
6, 424
7,011
32,487
339
4,267
1,816
3,979
112
13,037
164
1,117
541
857
1,540
2,224
6,020
4,422
704
10,686
11,569
13
4,818
1,793,907
35,381
83,988
324, 702
4,456
73,166
24,358
37,362
2,782
122,805
1,505
88,194
15,909
6,050
18,970
17, 501
295, 591
76,818
16,622
52,047
471, 572
1595
23,533
Connecticut
_________________________________________________________________________
Iron steel, and their products, excluding machinery_________________
Machinery excluding transportation equipment _ __________________
Transportation equipment _________
___________________________ ________
Nonferrous metals and their products
__ __________ _________________
Lumber and allied products__ ___________________ __________________
Stone, clay, and glass products ____________________________
Textiles and their products _______________________________
Food and kindred products _________________________ _____
Paper and printing
_
__ ___ _________________ i __ __
Rubber products
____________________________________________________ ________
Miscellaneous manufacturing ________________________________________________
Transportation and communication ___________________ __
Trade
. ____________________________________ _________________________________
Domestic and personal service ______________________________________________
Building and construction
__________________ _________________________
Other nonmanufacturing industries_________________ ____________ __________
84
7
10
2
3
1
4
18
4
2
6
2
5
8
1
10
1
33,616
7,840
8,503
220
2,152
93
273
4,244
149
122
6,907
196
874
447
335
1,230
31
272,903
25,920
103,293
2,818
39,273
930
5,660
52,248
1,477
300
29,386
544
3,364
2,613
335
4,587
155
Florida
__________________________________________________________________________________
Iron steel and their products, excluding machinery_________________
Machinery excluding transportation equipment_______________________
Transportation equipment _____________________________________________________
Lumber and allied products _________________ _____________________ ________
Food and kindred products
____________________ ______
Paper and printing
____________________________
Chemicals and allied products------ ------------------ ------------ --------
33
1
1
1
1
3
2
2
7,354
13
57
232
679
1,317
360
274
43,014
26
969
928
11,543
1,457
2,000
1,566
Machinery excluding transportation equipment._ ___________
Transportation equipment __________ _____ ________________
Nonferrous metals and their products_______ _______ _________
Lumber and allied products _________ _______________ _____
Stone, clay, and glass products __________ _____ ____________
______________________________
Textiles and their products
Leather and its manufactures______________________________
Food and kindred products . . ___________________ _______
Paper and printing
__ _________________________________ _
Chemicals and allied products______________________________
Rubber products
- - __________________________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing______ _ ______ ______________
Extraction of minerals
_________ ____________________
Transportation and communication__________________ _______
Trade
______________________________________________
Domestic and personal service
___________________________
Professional service
________________________________
Building and construction__________________________________
Agriculture and fishing. ___________________________________
W P A and relief projects ____________________ _________
Other nonmanufacturing industries
_____
_______ _
See footnote at end of table.
43
APPEN D IX
T able 23.— Strikes in 1941 , in States Which Had 25 or M ore Strikes During the Year
by Industry Group— Continued
State and industry group
ber
ikes
Number
Man-days
of workers idle during
year
involved
Florida—Continued.
Transportation and communication_______________
Trade__________________________________________
Building and construction----------------------------------Agriculture and fishing---------------------------------------
5
5
11
1
769
137
3,495
21
4,509
1,395
18,390
231
Georgia.._____ _______________ —
--------------------------------Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery.
Machinery, excluding transportation equipment----Lumber and allied products_____________________
Stone, clay, and glass products________________ _
Textiles and their products______________________
Leather and its manufactures____________________
Food and kindred products_________________ ____
Paper and printing--------------------------------------------Miscellaneous manufacturing_____________________
Transportation and communication_______________
Trade__________________________________________
Domestic and personal service___________________
Building and construction_______________________
Other nonmanufacturing industries_______________
32
2
2
2
1
5
1
1
2
2
6
2
2
3
1
6,977
1,163
107
133
32
1,956
1,460
23
68
303
326
653
465
85
203
98,520
22,266
489
8,484
640
40,381
8,760
64
180
889
3,439
10,721
780
440
987
Illinois_____________________________________________
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery.
Machinery, excluding transportation equipment----Transportation equipment_______________________
Nonferrous metals and their products_____________
Lumber and allied products______________________
Stone, clay, and glass products___________________
Textiles and their products_______________________
Leather and its manufactures_____________________
Food and kindred products------ ---------------------------Paper and printing_____________ _______ _________
Chemicals and allied products-----------------------------Miscellaneous manufacturing_____________________
Extraction of minerals___________________________
Transportation and communication----------------------Trade____________________________ '--------------------Domestic and personal service____________________
Building and construction------- ---------------------------Agriculture and fishing------------- -------------------------Other nonmanufacturing industries----------------------Interindustry__________ _________________________
226
15
26
8
5
17
7
12
4
14
8
7
15
14
18
25
5
17
3
5
1
110,946
7,291
25,091
5,051
1,052
2,492
1,134
2,528
1,925
6,353
2,787
1,637
1,673
42,912
2,862
2,176
279
1,867
121
215
1,500
1, 590,783
163, 740
507,826
41,317
14,812
48,048
30, 551
41, 332
28,090
77, 793
40,408
36, 750
18,977
456,283
8,069
41,883
3,142
22, 385
737
4,640
4,000
Indiana_______________________________________ ____
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery.
Machinery, excluding transportation equipment----Transportation equipment_______________________
Nonferrous metals and their products_____________
Lumber and allied products______________________
Stone, clay, and glass products----- -----------------------Textiles and their products_______________________
Leather and its manufactures_____________________
Food and kindred products.._-----------------------------Paper and printing--------- -----------------------------------Chemicals and allied products____________________
Rubber products------------------------------------------------Miscellaneous manufacturing____________ ______ _
Extraction of minerals___________________________
Transportation and communication_______________
Trade__________________________________________
Domestic and personal service____________________
Building and construction_______________________
Other nonmanufacturing industries_______________
161
23
18
7
8
7
9
5
1
10
8
3
6
8
7
15
11
4
9
2
80,311
33,955
7,214
9,036
1,518
1,214
2,309
2,839
220
3,645
1,381
1,135
1,769
473
8,594
1,399
820
138
2,509
143
657,154
60,929
92,991
123, 211
27,844
19,316
47,988
51,067
4,400
37,839
10,881
13,654
9,372
20,721
96,604
8,061
13,715
1,176
16,642
743
Iowa-------------- ----- ------ -------------------------------------------Machinery, excluding transportation equipment----Nonferrous metals and their products-------------------Lumber and allied products-------------- -----------------Stone, clay, and glass products-----------------------------Textiles and their products_______________________
Food and kindred products.------ -------------------------Paper and printing----------------------------------- --------Miscellaneous manufacturing------------------------------Extraction of minerals----------------------------------------Transportation and communication----------------------Trade__________________________________________
Domestic and personal service____________________
Building and construction________________________
Other nonmanufacturing industries............ ............ .
49
4
1
4
1
1
9
1
2
2
4
11
5
2
2
10,225
379
24
656
246
79
2,431
51
197
5,227
114
525
183
58
55
220,047
6,494
24
45,390
12,423
1,027
35, 542
1,275
7,995
101,030
558
4,203
3,478
474
134
44
S T R IK E S IN
1941
T able 23.— Strikes in 1941 , in States Which Had 25 or M ore Strikes During the Year,
by Industry Group— Continued
State and industry group
Number
of strikes
Number
Man-days
of workers idle during
involved
year
53
3
1
2
8
1
2
1
4
2
1
1
12
3
4
2
72,486
726
900
32
1,875
351
507
554
203
265
60
118
65,578
844
99
42
Other nonmanufacturing industries................. ...........................
3
1
2
260
50
22
773,287
6,175
16,200
120
18,508
9,126
2,013
6,154
1,615
5,493
220
118
700,134
4,476
428
525
1630
960
300
92
Xonisifl-Tia._____________________________________________________
Transportation equipment___ __________ ___________________
Nonferrous metals and their products
Lumber and allied products ______________________________
Stone, clay, and glass products
....... ................................ ........
Textiles and their products
______________________________
Food and kindred products________________________________
Paper and printing
__ ___________________________________
Chemicals and allied products ____________________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing______________________________
Extraction of minerals
_______________________________
Transportation and communication_________________________
Trade
__ . .
. _____________________________
Domestic and personal service
___________________________
Building and construction
__ ______________________
Other nnnmflTmfn.nt.iiring industries
___________________
47
1
1
3
1
2
4
2
3
3
1
9
5
3
6
3
6,962
1,400
120
489
344
550
541
40
418
344
13
404
112
409
1,700
78
55,610
5,600
5,160
4,588
4,472
8,816
8,115
120
1,405
4,368
377
4,042
523
1,960
5,732
332
Maryland
______________________________________________
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery__________
Transportation equipment
. _
______ ___________
Lumber and allied products ______________________ _______
Stone, clay, and glass products______________________________
Textiles and their products
_____________________________
Leather and its manufactures______________________________
Food and kindred products
_ _ __________________________
Paper and printing
_ ____________________________ ______
Chemicals and allied products _____________________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing _________________________■_____
Extraction of minerals
__________________________________
Transportation and communication____ ____________________
Trade
.. ____________ _____ _________________________
Domestic and personal service ____________________________
Professional service _______________________________________
Building and construction
________________________ ______
Other nonmanufacturing industries_________________________
66
6
4
3
1
6
1
4
22
1
2
10
8
3
1
7
5
37,186
5,465
11,027
1,126
420
1,480
514
1,580
168
49
539
4,800
2,028
1,104
75
16
3,012
3,783
207,151
11,785
12,548
14,521
420
21,307
2,570
38, 741
370
307
4,312
<6,600
8,506
17,546
268
16
9,356
17,978
Massachusetts_ _____________________________________________
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery__________
Machinery, excluding transportation equipment______________
Transportation equipment ________________________________
Nonferrous metals and their products_______________________
Lumber and allied products
. _ ___________________
Stone, clay, and glass products ______________________________
Textiles and their products _______________________________
Leather and its manufactures___________________________ ..
Food and kindred products
_ _ ______________________
Paper and printing
__________ _____ ___________________ ..
______________________________
Rubber products
Miscellaneous manufacturing _____ ________________________
Transportation and communication___________________ _____ _
Trade
____ _______________________________ ____________
Domestic and personal service _______ _____________________
Professional service
. ______________________________
Building and construction
_______________ _______
Other nonmanufacturing industries......................................... .
175
10
10
2
3
6
3
52
16
16
4
5
9
11
6
5
3
10
4
57,415
3,163
3,259
723
391
450
218
30,272
3,916
6,494
1,158
2,783
1,285
961
103
487
207
1,254
291
529,830
15,572
42,902
5,812
2,773
5,818
8,007
211,225
36,482
121,471
30,331
17,496
11,687
6,799
2,097
3,236
1,076
4,327
2,719
Iron’ steel, and their products, excluding machinery___________
Mn.nhinflry, Airnlnding transportation pqnipment
. .
Nonferrous metals and their products________ ______________
Lumber and allied products ___________ ___________________
Stone, clay, and glass products___ __________________________
Textiles and their products____________________________ ____ Leather and its manufactures ._.................... ..............................
Food and kindred products ________ ______________________
Paper and printing________________________________________
Chemicals and allied products______________________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing_______ ______ _________________
Extraction of minerals. ____________________________________
Transportation and communication__________ _______________
Trade __________________________________________________
Domestic and personal service ______
__________________
Building and construction
________________________________
See footnote at end of table.
45
APPENDIX
T able 23.— Strikes in 1941 , in States Which Had 25 or M ore Strikes During the Year,
by Industry Group— Continued
Number
of workers
involved
Number
of strikes
State and industry group
Man-days
idle during
year
252
22
31
46
9
15
7
6
2
12
2
6
2
1
6
6
16
26
10
2
17
8
333, 571
27,770
17,712
224,533
6,578
2,072
2,115
1,161
705
3,484
592
728
3,500
5,200
514
1,712
8,740
6,252
632
151
18,846
574
1,897,649
134,483
208,911
1,013,138
78,052
51,271
44,582
13,842
9,075
49,011
6,772
4,457
22,100
10,800
2,133
7,213
54,429
70,862
5,006
453
106,989
4,070
47
1
3
3
2
5
1
2
4
12
4
7
1
2
7,459
2,067
492
182
80
436
31
45
262
2,344
118
1,121
106
175
98,880
3,267
15,695
1,717
409
3,173
930
390
1,257
30,017
6,101
27,174
8,014
736
.Missouri
____________________________________________
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery. ________
Machinery, excluding transportation equipment___________ _
Transportation equipment
_____
___________ ______
Nonferrous metals and their products
_______ ._ _____
Lumber and allied products
_. . . . . _ ________________
Stone, clay, and glass products._________________________ ..
Textiles and their products
.
_ _ _ _ ________________
Leather and its manufactures ___ _ _____________ _________
Food and kindred products. _ ______________________________
Paper and printing
_________ ____ _____________
Chemicals and allied products
____ _______________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing_______________________________
Extraction of minerals __ __________________ ______________
Transportation and communication
_____________________
Trade
__ ..
________ ____________ _________
Domestic and personal service
____ _____ ____________
Professional service
__ ____ _ ___________________
Building and construction _____________________ _________
Agriculture and fishing
____ _____________ ______________
Other nonmanufacturing industries
_ ________________
Interindustry ..
__
_________________________________
119
7
10
2
2
5
4
9
12
13
2
2
5
1
8
12
4
1
12
1
6
51,420
1,793
1,421
1,707
732
605
2,395
1,546
3,306
1,032
30
924
635
74
866
811
491
5
25,189
95
263
7,500
314,232
29,773
25,969
6,936
5,756
24,299
21,588
21,747
31,855
14,802
874
13,055
6,145
814
6,535
8,574
1,913
1,526
65,358
855
4,858
21,000
New Jersey
_____ ___ ___ ___________________ ________
Iron steel and their products, excluding machinery ________
Machinery excluding transportation equipment______________
Transportation equipment
_____________________
Nonferrous metals and their products
. ________________
Lumber and allied products
_________________
Stone clay and glass products
________________
Textiles and their products
_____
_______
Leather and its manufactures
______________________
Food and kindred products
__________ _________
Tobacco manufactures
________________________________
Paper and p r in t in g
_ ________ ____________ __________ _______
Chemicals and allied products ___ _______________ ___ ___
Rubber products
____________________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing_________________ _____ ________
Extraction of minerals
_______________ _______
Transportation and communication
_____________________
Trade___________________________________—------ -----------------
264
22
16
14
9
10
8
52
6
10
91,292
13,824
7,932
26,863
7,819
1,048
2,140
8,429
919
1,309
2,135
2,155
5,291
1,596
2,040
400
692
886
1,058, 308
139,473
129,564
291,488
63. 505
20,003
40, 371
115, 533
5,258
26,006
37,944
48,656
53, 572
15,395
23. 594
600
5,943
9.221
Tron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery......
Textiles and their products
.....
______________________________
Food and kindred products __ _____________________________
Tobacco manufactures _ _________________________________
Paper and printing
_________ <_ ______________________
Rubber products
________ ______ ______________________
Extraction of minerals
Trade
__
___________
_____________________
__________________ ___________________
Professional service
__ ________________________ _____ ____
Machinery, ATclnding transportation equipment______________
Chemicals and allied products _______ _______________ ______
Miscellaneous manufacturing_____ ________________________
Transportation and communication_________________________
Trade
__ __
________________________________
Domestic and personal service
- - - - ____________________
______________________________
Building and construction
Agriculture and fishing
________________________________
Other nonmanufacturing industries. ____ ____________________
See footnote at end of table.
’
1
2
13
12
7
12
1
10
22
46
STRIK ES IX
1941
T able 23.— Strikes in 1941 , in States W hich Had 25 or M ore Strikes During the Year,
by Industry Group— Continued
State and industry group
Number
of strikes
Number
Man-days
of workers idle during
involved
year
New Jersey—Continued.
Domestic and personal service------------------ -----------Professional service______________________________
Building and construction-----------------------------------Other nonmanufacturing industries_______________
17
3
12
6
3 ,7 9 0
121
1 ,4 3 2
471
1 9 ,7 4 4
2 ,1 0 3
6 ,3 8 0
3 ,9 5 5
New York----------------------------------------------- ------ ---------Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery.
Machinery, excluding transportation equipment----Transportation equipment-------------------------- ------Nonferrous metals and their products_____________
Lumber and allied products------------------- ------------Stone, clay, and glass products----------------------------Textiles and their products---------------------------------Leather and its manufactures_______ ____ ________
Food and kindred products_______________ _____ _
Tobacco manufactures__________________________
Paper and printing______________________________
Chemicals and allied products----------------------------Rubber products_______________________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing___________ ______
Extraction of minerals___________________ _______
Transportation and communication....... .............. .
Trade______________________________ ___________
Domestic and personal service----------------------------Professional service_____1-----------------------------------Building and construction----------------------------------Other nonmanufacturing industries_______ ____ _
763
42
38
20
24
23
16
183
16
31
1
48
17
4
62
2
46
90
58
4
30
18
2 0 4 ,2 8 4
2 2 ,7 2 0
5 ,5 9 3
21, 233
1 ,5 0 4
2 ,1 4 7
3 ,8 1 0
1 8 ,9 1 6
6 ,5 6 5
1 0 ,5 8 4
150
5 ,1 1 9
2 ,0 1 1
44 6
6 ,4 8 7
40
1 0 ,2 9 5
1 3 ,0 5 0
7 ,1 8 5
86
6 3 ,4 5 4
2 ,8 8 9
2 ,1 7 1 ,9 3 7
1 7 2 ,1 7 2
2 5 2 ,9 1 3
7 0 ,9 8 9
2 6 ,6 4 7
4 0 ,8 3 7
45, 253
3 3 3 ,0 6 8
1 9 ,1 8 7
1 8 2 ,6 7 1
1 ,0 5 0
1 0 7 ,3 7 1
2 9 ,0 4 2
6 ,5 2 9
1 2 0 ,0 7 0
22 9
8 1 ,4 1 6
193, 339
8 8 ,1 0 9
258
3 7 5 .1 0 5
25; 673
North Carolina__________________________ - ..................Lumber and allied products................. ................... .
Stone, clay, and glass products---------- -----------------Textiles and their products---------- ----------------------Food and kindred products--------------------------------Tobacco manufactures___________ ____ _______ _
Chemicals and allied products----------------------------Miscellaneous manufacturing------------------------------Transportation and communication______________
Trade__________________________________________
Domestic and personal service----------------------------Building and construction----------------------------------Other nonmanufacturing industries----------------------
34
3
1
15
1
1
1
1
3
2
1
4
1
1 8 ,7 3 1
650
64
1 2 ,9 7 0
56
148
48
29
101
35
12
4 ,6 1 1
1 0 5 ,0 8 5
8 ,2 3 1
448
7 8 ,2 4 2
748
148
192
1 ,1 0 2
5 ,6 7 8
33 5
12
9 ,9 1 4
35
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery
Machinery, excluding transportation equipment---Transportation equipment---------------------------------Nonferrous metals and their products------------------Lumber and allied products_____________________
Stone, clay, and glass products___________________
Textiles and their products---------------------------------Leather and its manufactures------------------------------Food and kindred products______________________
Tobacco manufactures___________________________
Paper and printing______________________________
Chemicals and allied products----------------------------Rubber products_______________________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing____________________
Extraction of minerals___________________________
Transportation and communication______________
Trade--------------------------------------------------------------Domestic and personal service----------------------------Professional service,_____________________________
Building and construction_______________________
Other nonmanufacturing industries_______________
Lumber and allied products---------Textiles and their products________
Leather and its manufactures--------Food and kindred products_______
Miscellaneous manufacturing--------Transportation and communication.
Trade___________________________
Building and construction------------Agriculture and fishing___________
W. P. A. and relief projects_______
Other nonmanufacturing industries.
341
43
45
25
24
14
22
7
3
13
2
7
8
5
6
11
26
22
12
1
37
8
51
30
1
1
2
1
2
6
5
1
1
1
7
1 6 4 ,2 9 4
2 1 ,1 0 6
1 8 ,2 5 8
1 6 ,3 4 4
14, 589
3 ,4 7 2
9 .8 8 1
3 ,5 6 2
1 ,0 9 8
2 ,2 4 0
3 ,6 6 7
1 ,4 9 4
2 ,4 9 2
1 6 ,8 9 6
592
1 8 ,6 9 7
2 ,9 1 3
2 ,2 0 6
724
110
2 3 ,6 7 8
28 0 1
6 ,9 9 0
4 ,9 1 1
38
55
77 5
31
16
737
36 6
20
19
22
1, 812, 970
2 0 4 ,0 4 7
182, 519
1 1 5 ,2 3 5
5 2 ,4 3 3
4 4 ,3 6 7
1 8 6 ,9 8 9
3 5 ,2 9 2
4 ,7 8 1
3 7 ,8 8 9
4 4 ,5 8 7
1 9 ,6 5 8
8 ,4 1 0
1 9 ,5 0 4
7 ,3 9 2
2 3 5 ,1 7 4
20, 725
11, 529
3 ,7 9 0
550
7 6 ,2 3 9
1 ,8 6 0
2 0 1 ,0 0 2
5 7 ,7 2 7
3 ,1 5 4
550
8 ,9 8 1
310
145
1 2 6 ,5 3 9
2 ,7 1 5
120
57
70 4
47
APPENDIX
T able 23.— Strikes in 1941 , in States W hich Had 25 or M ore Strikes During the Year,
by Industry Group— Continued
State and industry group
Number
of strikes
Number
Man-days
of workers idle during
involved
year
Pennsylvania_____________________________ ___________________
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery__________
Machinery, excluding transportation equipment---___________
Transportation equipment.I______ _________________________
Nonferrous metals and their products________________________
Lumber and allied products________________________________
Stone, clay, and glass products______________________________
Textiles and their products________________ ____ __________
Leather and its manufactures______________ ____ __________
Food and kindred products_______________________________ Tobacco manufactures___________________________________ _
Paper and printing _________________________ _____________
Chemicals and allied products_________ _______ _____________
Rubber products _ * _ __________________________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing- _________ ____ _ _______ _
Extraction of minerals ___
____________________________
Transportation and communication_________________________
_______
_____________________________________
Trade
Domestic and personal service_________________ ____________
Professional service.
________________________ _____ _______
Building and construction__________ _______________________
Agriculture and fishing__________ __________________________
Other nnnm»nnfftr»t.nririg industries ..
....
545
77
27
15
18
23
24
62
11
28
3
13
13
1
14
59
37
35
27
3
31
1
23
4 8 8 ,4 9 8
5 7 ,5 0 0
9 ,7 3 2
1 5 ,7 3 7
5 ,7 4 2
4 ,5 8 6
4 ,9 5 1
1 9 ,2 3 8
2 ,7 1 6
6 ,2 2 4
1 ,5 0 4
1 ,9 0 0
1 ,0 7 9
778
5 ,5 8 2
3 2 6 ,1 0 8
7 ,0 8 5
4 ,8 5 6
5 ,9 3 8
564
3 ,1 1 1
60
3 ,5 0 7
4 ,1 3 6 ,7 3 8
2 8 8 ,3 7 3
4 5 ,3 1 3
1 1 4 ,7 9 1
8 3 ,5 2 5
1 1 4 ,6 3 0
9 9 ,4 3 3
2 3 5 ,4 9 4
2 2 ,0 1 2
140, 551
12, 559
2 3 ,3 6 4
3 2 ,8 9 6
2 3 ,5 0 5
5 6 ,1 1 6
2 ,5 9 1 ,1 7 8
1 0 5 ,2 4 8
3 7 ,7 5 2
3 9 ,5 0 3
2 3 ,6 9 1
2 4 ,0 1 0
960
2 1 ,8 3 4
Rhode Island______________________________________ ___________
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery__________
Mfl/difnery, excluding transportation equipment. _ __________
"NonferronVmetals and th^if products
Textiles and their products ________________ ______________
Food and kindred products________________________________
39
2
2
1
17
1
1
1
4
2
5
1
2
8 ,8 8 8
31 2
223
64
5 ,8 5 9
60
63
31
187
42
1 ,6 6 5
104
27 8
8 7 ,8 5 4
1 ,7 2 6
1 ,0 9 5
1 ,4 0 8
6 5 ,9 9 0
720
630
62
639
646
1 1 ,9 0 4
1 ,0 4 0
1 ,9 9 4
85
8
5
3 4 ,6 6 1
1 ,8 6 0
1 ,0 1 1
10
2
13
3
2
5
9
5
4
1
12
2 ,9 6 7
334
1 2 ,1 0 4
776
271
40
1 2 ,6 5 0
934
20 6
28 4
35
1 ,1 8 9
5 6 4 ,8 7 1
4 3 ,4 6 9
8 ,7 4 0
1320
3 5 ,8 9 3
7 ,7 6 0
2 1 9 ,9 5 9
1 1 ,4 3 2
3 ,7 0 7
378
1 9 7 ,8 7 3
2 2 ,8 2 0
1 ,4 2 0
7 ,8 0 0
35
3 ,2 6 5
55
1
4
3
4
2
8
1
1
13
1
1
16
1 1 ,8 4 0
265
438
4 ,2 2 0
85
816
1 ,3 3 6
21
27 5
708
138
15
3 ,5 2 3
1 2 9 ,3 6 5
1 ,3 2 5
6 ,4 0 3
4 6 ,6 2 9
6 ,8 9 4
1 ,7 3 4
1 5 ,7 9 4
63
4 ,1 2 5
1 0 ,8 2 1
1 2 ,7 1 6
322
2 2 ,5 3 9
39
1 7 ,1 5 1
332
23 0
313
34 0
321
1 3 ,2 1 5
81 7
88
101
1 ,2 2 2
172
2 2 3 ,2 0 1
2 ,8 4 8
920
2 ,6 2 0
5 ,7 4 5
3 ,1 8 6
1 9 2 ,7 2 5
5 ,0 2 0
280
518
8 ,1 5 5
1 ,1 8 4
Transportation and communication __ _______ __________
Trade
- _____________________________________________
Domestic and personal service ___________________________
Building and construction ________________________________
W. P. A. and relief projects ________________________________
Other nonmanufacturing industries___________ _____________
Tennessee______ ______________________________________________
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery_______ ..
Machinery, excluding transportation equipment______________
Nonferrous metals and their products __ _ ________________
Lumber and allied products ______________ _________________
Stone, clay, and glass products
__________________________
Textiles and their products ________________ ___________
Food and kindred products _____________________________ .
Chemicals and allied products. ____________________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing________ ______________________
Extraction of minerals ____________________________________
Transportation and communication_________________________
Trade
__ _
____________________________________
Domestic and personal service ____________________________
Professional service
_______ ____________________________
Building and construction
_______________________________
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery__________
Machinery, excluding transportation equipment______________
Transportation equipment _______________________________
Lumber and allied products _______________________________
Textiles and their products _______________________________
Food and kindred products __________________ ___________
Paper and printing
_ ____________________________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing
__
_______________
Transportation and communication
_ _______ _
Trade
________________________________________________
Domestic and personal service
. . - - - _________________
Building and construction
_______________________________
Virginia ____________________________________________________
Lumber and allied products _. ___________ ________________
Stone clay and glass products
_ ______ ______
Textiles and their products _____________________ _________
Food and kindred products___________ - ___________________
Tobacco manufactures
__________________ ______________
Extraction of minerals
______________ - ______________
Transportation and communication_________ _______________
Trade
______ _______________________________________
Domestic and personal service______________________________
Building and construction
_______________________________
Other nonmanufacturing industries.......................... ......... .........
See footnote at end of table.
6
3
1
2
3
1
4
6
3
2
13
1
48
ST R IK E S IN'
1941
T able 23.— Strikes in 1941 , in States Which Had 25 or M ore Strikes During the Year*
b y Industry Group— Continued
State and industry group
Number
of strikes
Number
Man-days
of workers idle during
involved
year
Washington___________________________________________________
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery__________
__ ' ____________
Transportation equipment____________ _ .
Nonferrous metals and their products..... .....................................
Lumber and allied products______________ _________________
Stone, clay, and glass products_____________ ________________
Food and kindred products________________________________
Paper and printing _______ ____ ____ ________ ____________
Miscellaneous manufacturing.............................. ..........................
Extraction of m inerals____1__________ ____________________
Transportation and communication ________________________
Trade* __________________ _____ ___ _____________________
Domestic and personal service
__________________________
Building and construction ________________ ____ __________
Other nonmanufacturing industries______ _______ ___________
60
1
2
1
26
1
5
1
1
1
4
4
7
4
2
35,694
82
7,237
14
21,903
323
1,191
53
60
165
256
2,940
1,069
194
207
706,877
490
47,553
42
508,449
5,317
15,788
636
1,560
2,800
2,500
109,724
9,504
2,016
498
West Virginia _______________________________________________
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery__________
Machinery, excluding transportation equipment_____________
Transportation equipment_____________.______ _____________
Nonferrous metals and their products....................... ...................
Lumber and allied products...... ................................ ...................
Stone, clay, and glass products........................ ................... ........Paper and printing_____________ ______________ ____________
Chemicals and allied products _______ ____________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing_______________________________
Extraction of minerals __________ ____ ____________________
Transportation and communication..._______________________
Trade
.
. ___________________________________________
Domestic and personal service _. __________________________
Building and construction ................................. ........................
Other nonmanufacturing industries......................... .....................
67
2
1
2
1
7
9
2
5
1
7
3
4
1
11
1
162,957
1,580
210
769
191
1,836
2,835
354
951
700
151,929
204
77
57
1,247
17
1,944,419
3,160
840
7,266
955
66,554
18,582
5,462
9,223
23,100
1,799,227
1,445
860
2,508
5,101
136
Wisconsin_____________________________________________________
Iron, steel, and their products, excluding machinery__________
Machinery, excluding transportation equipment______________
Transportation equipment __________ ____ ________________
Nonferrous metals and their products___________ ___________
Lumber and allied products ............................... .......................
Stone, clay, and glass products _ . _____ __________________
Textiles and their products
______________________________
Leather and its manufactures_______________________________
Food and kindred products._ .. _________________________
paper and printing
_________ ____________________________
Rubber products __________ _____________________________
Miscellaneous manufacturing___ _____ _____________________
Transportation and communication _______________________
_____________________ _______ ____________________
Trade
Domestic and personal service ______ ______________________
Professional service ___ ___________________________________
Building and construction____________ ____________________
Agriculture and fishing
__________________________________
W. P. A. and relief projects ____________ __________________
Other nonmanufacturing industries______ ___________________
65
3
5
3
1
1
1
2
4
8
1
4
1
6
9
2
1
6
1
2
4
17,450
123
9,142
684
146
200
9
427
804
502
170
2,321
226
863
507
107
8
713
66
50
382
521,315
4,955
443,349
7,030
1,244
7,148
369
2,067
16,723
2,520
3,230
7,203
1,130
3,255
9,841
604
40
5,059
132
2,152
3,264
Man-days idle resulting from a strike which continued into 1941 from the preceding year.