1937 Little Steel strike

1937 Little Steel strike
Title	1937 Little Steel strike
Date	May–September 1937
Place	Chicago, Youngstown, Ohio, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Cleveland, Pittsburgh
Causes	Opposition to United Steelworkers, rejection of National Labor Relations Act bargaining, wage disputes
Result	Mixed outcomes; union recognition in some locales, increased federal labor policy attention

1937 Little Steel strike

The 1937 Little Steel strike was a major industrial labor conflict involving independent steel producers and organized labor that reshaped labor relations in the United States during the New Deal era. The strike pitted the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the newly formed CIO-affiliated Steel Workers Organizing Committee and United Steelworkers against companies including Republic Steel, Inland Steel, Bethlehem Steel, Youngstown Sheet and Tube, and Lackawanna Steel Company. The events intersected with key figures and institutions such as John L. Lewis, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the National Labor Relations Board, and various municipal and state authorities.

Background

The late 1930s industrial landscape featured tensions among Big Steel and smaller producers known as "Little Steel," including Republic Steel, Inland Steel, Bethlehem Steel, Youngstown Sheet and Tube, and Lackawanna Steel Company. After the passage of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935 and the rise of the Congress of Industrial Organizations under John L. Lewis, labor drives intensified. The Steel Workers Organizing Committee and the emerging United Steelworkers sought recognition and collective bargaining across facilities in Chicago, Youngstown, Ohio, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Prior conflicts involving the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, the Homestead Strike, and the Great Steel Strike of 1919 informed tactics by both management and labor. Corporate strategies drew on precedents from Anti-union tactics used by firms tied to Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan, while organizers deployed methods learned during the Auto Workers sit-down strike and campaigns by the United Auto Workers.

Events of the Strike

The walkouts began in late spring 1937 when the Steel Workers Organizing Committee initiated coordinated actions after failed negotiations with Little Steel executives. Major strike centers included South Chicago, Youngstown, and the Bethlehem Steel plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Thousands of workers from divisions formerly represented by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers joined ranks with newer members recruited through efforts by leaders linked to John L. Lewis and the CIO. Management countered with private security from firms connected to the Pinkerton Detective Agency lineage, use of strikebreakers tied to Goldman, Sachs & Company-era industrial finance networks, and appeals to municipal authorities such as mayors allied with machine politics in cities like Chicago and Cleveland. The National Labor Relations Board monitored several complaints, while national attention grew through coverage in outlets associated with New Deal supporters and critics including newspapers tied to figures like William Randolph Hearst.

Violence and the Memorial Day Massacre

Escalation culminated in incidents of forceful suppression, most notably the Memorial Day confrontation near Chicago's Republic Steel plant on May 30, 1937, later remembered as the Memorial Day Massacre. Striking workers and families marching toward the plant clashed with Chicago Police Department officers under directives from municipal leaders allied with industrialists. Violence drew comparisons to earlier confrontations such as the Ludlow Massacre and the Haymarket affair and involved fatalities and dozens of injuries. Legal figures tied to municipal prosecutions, civil liberties advocates from organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, and labor lawyers associated with the National Lawyers Guild and the AFL debated accountability. Congressional actors, including members of Congress sympathetic to labor, pressed for investigations paralleling inquiries into other industrial disputes from the era.

Labor Organization and Strategies

The Steel Workers Organizing Committee and allied unions used tactics refined in industrial disputes such as mass picketing, informational campaigns, and coordination with sympathetic local unions including affiliates of the AFL and CIO umbrella groups. Organizers trained cadre who had experience from campaigns linked to the Sit-down strike movement and drew on solidarity from ethnic community organizations in neighborhoods near plants in Youngstown and South Chicago. Leadership figures coordinated legal and public relations efforts with advocates associated with Franklin D. Roosevelt's labor allies and progressive legislators who supported stronger enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act. Management employed labor relations teams, negotiated through company attorneys with links to corporate law firms of the period, and used state and local police resources to limit organizing momentum.

Government and Legal Responses

Federal and state officials responded unevenly: the National Labor Relations Board filed complaints and attempted mediation in several locales, while President Franklin D. Roosevelt faced political pressure from both labor leaders like John L. Lewis and industrial backers. State governors deployed National Guard units in some areas, echoing precedents from earlier labor disputes handled by governors such as those during the Pullman Strike era. Municipal authorities in Chicago and Youngstown coordinated with police forces, and legal proceedings involved courts applying precedents linked to decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States and statutory interpretations of the National Labor Relations Act. Labor's civil suits and management's injunctions engaged advocates from organizations like the American Federation of Labor and national bar associations.

Aftermath and Impact on Labor Movement

The strike's aftermath produced mixed outcomes: some Little Steel plants eventually recognized the United Steelworkers, while others resisted, influencing later campaigns culminating in broader industry recognition after World War II. The events influenced policy debates in Congress over labor law enforcement, strengthened the National Labor Relations Board's profile, and affected public perceptions of unions that intersected with political alliances in the New Deal coalition. Prominent labor figures such as John L. Lewis and organizations like the CIO leveraged lessons from the strike for subsequent organizing drives, contributing to the eventual growth of the United Steelworkers of America. The strike also entered cultural memory alongside incidents like the Memorial Day Massacre and bolstered civil liberties advocacy by groups including the American Civil Liberties Union.

Category:1937 labor disputes Category:United States labor history Category:Steel industry history