My grandfather, Lewis C. French of the Milwaukee Journal wrote about the 1934 Electric Co. strike.
Too bad Gov. Walker dropped out of college, because if he had studied his state's history he'd know not to mess with the unions.
I've quoted liberally from grandpa's article "'Let's Forget It', City Feels in Looking Back on Strike"
Labor War's Scars Are Healed by Joy Over New Deal, Marking an Epoch for Utility
Not since the armistice has greater Milwaukee rejoiced as it did over the message, “The Strike is over!”
After three nights of terror, people went to bed secure. There was light and power, the police were back to protect homes and the rumble of street cars was welcomed.
The strike had left its scars – one dead, many injured, and more than $250,000 in property damage, with extra costs to the utility.
Historical note - S.B. Way, president of the Electric Co. had laid off 13 A.F.L (American Federation of Labor) workers and refused to negotiate. That's when things got difficult.
For 16 years the Electric Co. had a contract with the Employees' Mutual Benefit Association (E.M.B.A), under which it was agreed that this organization be the employment agency of the utility and that every employee be a member. The E.M.B.A. had been developed, with the benefit of social features, along with its labor contract, until the utility was convinced that its employees were so satisfied that outside labor organizations could not encroach. The utility had bitterly opposed any dealings with the American Federation of Labor (A.F.L.) Few labor men have ever crossed the portals of the executive offices of the utility.
Sound familiar?
When the strike started, the utility had full confidence that it could cope with the situation. ... but it was not the disposition of Way to give in. He was convinced that the courts were there to protect contract rights and the police to guard private property. The company relied on its reports that comparatively few of its employees were actually union members. Less than 5 percent walked out when the strike was called.
Ignored Public Sentiment
“Those in close contact with the strike say that the thing the utility did not figure on was public sentiment.”
First Mediator Arrives
Moore formerly had been a consulting engineer in New York.....He had the quick ability to gain the full confidence of the union leaders. They believed in him. At the start, Moore was unable to get the union leaders any closer to the office of Way than the distance that separates the office of Joseph Padway, union attorney, and the Public Service Building. When the strike came and so few employees walked out, the utility was convinced, more than ever, that it could handle the situation. Moore is reported to have warned that there was trouble in sight. He pointed what happened in Toledo and Minneapolis
“We don't want that here,” was his plea.
“Strikes must come to an end sometime, why not now?”
Appeals are Futile
Appeals were made first to Way and then to the E.M.B.A. to waive the contract and hold a supervised secret election to determine collective bargaining representation among production workers by craft. They called for the reinstatement of the 13 discharged employees. But the E.M.B.A. and the utility stood pat.
Unions Increase Demands
Thursday night the unions, encouraged by the complete paralysis of the transit system, raised their demands. They were now asking that the A.F. Of L. (American Federation of Labor) be substituted for the E.M.B.A., and that the strikers be taken back with pay for the time they were out on strike.
When the news came that Lakeside power plant employees were walking out at 6 p.m. if the strike was not settled, the mediators knew what that meant. It would be but a matter of time until the other power stations were down. Racine and Kenosha had a taste of temporary lack of light and power. This was the turning point.
“We must settle this strike before dark,” warned Father Hass and Moore. They had a picture of a dark city. There was much at stake. There was fear of looting.
Race Against Darkness
It was a race against darkness. Father Haas, still smiling and genial, and Moore preceded the union chiefs to the office of Way. None of the union chiefs had ever been in Way's office. It is a huge room, with heavy wooden panels, Victorian in atmosphere.
The minute the delegation walked into that room, the strike was over. Every eye was on Way. “Gentlemen, I am not going to quibble,” was his first statement.
...
Engineers, Sloat, and Charles Thurber, business manager of the electrical workers were given a fast car. They sped to Lakeside. They found a crowd pressing close to the gates. Inside were guards lined up, tense. Police blocked the gateway.
Leaping out of the car, Sloat shouted "Get back in there - we've won!"
And that was all over there were only 13 laid off union members.