The Impact of Three Key Strikes on Individuals and Society

The Impact of Three Key Strikes on Individuals and Society: A Comparative Study

Today, labor strikes are a common strategy for workers to improve their condition. Indeed, labor strikes have played a significant role in shaping the history of the United States, both on a personal level and within American society as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to review the relevant literature to determine the effects of three major strikes: the 1959 Steel Strike, the Railroad Strike of 1886, and the 1934 Textile Strike to identify their respective impact on individuals and American society. Following this review, the paper presents a summary of the research and significant findings concerning these three key strikes on modern American individual and society in the conclusion.

1959 Steel Strike

While many Americans at present are unaware of this key labor strike, the 1959 steel strike was one of the largest cessations of work in the history of the country. For example, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The 1959 steel strike, which idled 519,000 workers for 116 days before an in- junction terminated the strike, raised the year\'s total strike\' idleness to 69 million man-days, second only to 1946 in the postwar period” (Analysis of Work Stoppages 1959, 2023, p. 3). This was an astounding work stoppage that had profound individual and societal implications for Americans then and today as discussed further below.

Personal impact: The bloody sacrifices of World War II and Korea were still fresh in the nation’s consciousness and it is readily understandable that tens of millions of American workers were adamant about wanting a better life for themselves and their families, and labor strikes were one of the last resorts available to them. In this regard, Smemo et al. (2017) report that, “The strike crystallized the limits of postwar collective bargaining and policy making to manage postwar economic growth. Those limitations allowed steelworkers to lay claim to the New Deal\'s promise of industrial citizenship and defend the moral economy of their home life” (2017, p. 39). Moreover, despite a series of New Deal reforms, the steel industry was highly profitably during this period in American history and workers wanted their fair share in return for their hard work. As Smemo et al. (2017) point out, “The strike reveals the close relationship between workplace struggle and larger questions of economic policy, in particular those regarding inflation” (p. 39).

It is also important to note that African American steelworkers were more adversely affected by the strike compared with white steelworkers, an outcome that was exacerbated for many by their second-class citizenship status in the workplace as well as larger American society. As Wagner makes clear, “Even though black workers enjoyed the benefits of the union’s promise to deliver wage and pension security, as well as better workplace conditions, the union failed to address the most pressing matter for black workers—equity in the workplace” (2017, p. 53). Consequently, the 1959 steel strike had a number of concomitant societal effects as discussed below.

Societal implications: The historical record shows that labor strikes are a crap shoot whose outcomes are nebulous in the beginning – and this was certainly the case with the 1959 steel strike when steelworkers only gained a modest wage increase after much time-consuming negotiation. Furthermore, the strike had lasting effects on the national economy (The Labor Board Crew, 2022). For instance, Smemo et al. (2017) conclude that, “The strike resulted in the first presidential Taft-Hartley injunction, an unfavorable Supreme Court ruling upholding it, and, for many workers’ households, the depletion of their life savings” (p. 40). In addition, in order to meet soaring demand, the United States sought alternative sources of steel from foreign manufacturers, resulting in the first time that steel exports fell below steel imports, and the country would suffer from a chronic trade deficient in the steel industry that persists to the current day (Smemo et al., 2017).

Railroad Strike of 1886

The Great Southwest Railroad Strike of 1886 was the result of a series of wage reductions that followed the national depression in 1884 to 1885, and it began in September 1884 when yet another wage reduction was announced by Southwest Railroad. According to one contemporary historian, “On March 1, 1886, this ongoing conflict came to a head when a railroad worker was fired for attending a union meeting. This was in violation of the agreements that employees should not be fired ‘without due notice and investigation.’ The situation rapidly turned into a multi-state strike against two railways” (Taussig, 1887, p. 185). The strike’s actual origins are traced to a work stoppage by shop mechanics in a South-Western railroad yard over the wage reduction issues, and by March 6, 1886 the strike had engulfed the entire railroad network (Taussig, 1887). Like the 1959 steel strike, this action by labor also had significant personal and societal impacts as discussed further below.

Personal impact: While the 1959 steel strike was momentous in its personal and societal impact and there were some violent confrontations, no one was actually killed unlike the railroad strike of 1886 which claimed at least 10 lives, including one law enforcement authority (Koppekin, 2023). This strike also involved more than 200,000 workers who were dismayed that their hard work was being rewarded with less pay while the company reaped massive profits (Taussig, 1887).

Societal impact: The South-West railroad owned fully 12% of all of the railroad tracks in America at the time, and it is little wonder that it was able to leverage its political clout into breaking the strike, although martial law had to be declared in Texas, Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri to quell the violence (Taussig, 1887). In fact, unlike the 1959 Steel Strike which at least achieved a modest wage increase, the Great Southwest Railroad Strike of 1886 failed to achieve any of its goals and the workers were forced to return to work on May 4, 1886 after a congressional hearing ordered them to do so (Taussig, 1887). The outcome of this strike was to dampen recruitment efforts by the Knights of Labor union and similar situated collective bargaining organizations (Koppekin, 2023). Another key labor strike with similar results for labor was the 1934 textile strike which is discussed below.

1934 Textile Strike

In September 1934, more than 170,000 southern textile workers stopped working in an attempt to secure recognition for their union recognition and protection against increased workloads. Described by one striker as being “the closest thing to a revolution I\'ve seen in this country” (Testing the New Deal, 2000, para. 3), the 1934 textile strike was also among the largest labor protests in nation’s history which had severe personal and societal effects as noted below.