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Strikes in the United States, 1880-1936

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Frances Perkins, Secretary BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Isador Lubin, Commissioner Strikes in the United States 1 8 8 0 -1 9 3 6 + By FLORENCE PETERSON o f the Bureau o f Labor Statistics Bulletin 7s[o. 651 August 1937 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE W A SH IN G T O N : 1938 For sale by the Superintendent o f Documents, Washington, D . C. Price 20 cents Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis CONTENTS Page Preface__________________________________________________________________________ V Introduction____________________ 1 Definition of strike and lock-out_______________ 3 Measurement of strikes___________________________________________________ 7 Cost of strikes_____________________________________________________________ 10 C hapter I.— Early history of strikes______________________________ ^ ______ 12 C hapter II.— General trend of strikes from 1881 to 1936________________ 21 C hapter III.— Strike statistics, 1880 to 1905_______________________________ 27 Strikes during 1880_____________________________________ 27 Strikes from 1881 to 1905______________________________ 28 C hapter IV .— Strikes from 1914 to 1926____________________________________ 35 C hapter V.— Analysis of strikes, 1927-36___________________________________ 41 Strikes by years_________________________________________ 41 Seasonal trend__________________________________________ 43 Number of workers_____________________________________ 47 Establishments involved_______________________________ 48 Sex of workers__________________________________________ 50 Duration of strikes_____________________________________ 51 Labor organizations____________________________________ 54 Major issues_____________________________________________ 58 Results__________________________________________________ 66 Strikes in various cities_________________________________ 81 Strikes in each State_______________ v___________________ 85 Major causes of strikes in each industry______________ 122 A ppendix I.— Strikes involving 10,000 or more workers, 1 9 2 7 -3 6 ______ 161 A ppendix II.— Methods used in analyzing strikes_________________________ 163 A ppendix III.— Method of collecting strike data___________________________ 170 A ppendix IV.— Labor disputes in foreign countries, 1 9 2 7 -3 6 _____________ 173 General index___________________________________________________________________ 177 Index to table 37_______________________________________________________________ 180 Tables T able 1.— Number of strikes and workers involved, 1881-1936___________ 21 T able 2.— Causes of strikes in 1880_________________________________________ 27 T able 3.— Results of strikes in 1880_________________________________________ 28 T able 4.— Number of strikes, workers, and establishments involved, 1881-1905_______________________________________________________ 29 T able 5.— Strikes for 25-year period, 1881-1905, by industry_ 30 T able 6.— Strikes for 25-year period, 1881-1905, by States___ 31 T able 7.— Strikes ordered by labor organizations, 1881-1905_____________ 32 T able 8.— Major causes of strikes, 1881-1905______________________________ 33 T able 9.— Workers involved in strikes due to various causes, 1881-1905- _ 34 T able 10.— Results of strikes, 1881-1905___________________________________ 34 T able 11.— Strikes, by months, 1914-26____________________________________ 35 h i Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis IV CONTENTS Page T a b l e 12.— Strikes, b y States, 1914-26______________________________________ 37 T a b l e 13.— Sex o f workers in volved in strikes, 1 9 16-26____________________ 38 T a b l e 14.— N um ber o f establishm ents in volved in strikes, 1 917-26_______ 38 T a b l e 15.— Number of strikes in specified industries, 1914-26____________ 38 T a b l e 16.— Number of workers involved in strikes, 1916-26______________ 39 T a b l e 17.— Relation of workers to labor unions____________________________ 39 T a b l e 18.— Major causes of strikes, 1914-26 _______________________________ 39 T a b l e 19.— Results of strikes, 1916-26______________________________________ 40 T a b le 20.— Strikes from 1927 to 1936, by years____________________________ 41 T a b le 21.— Strikes from 1927 to 1936, b y m on th s__________________________ 45 T a b l e 22.— Strikes by number of workers involved, 1927-36______________ 48 T a b l e 23.— Strikes by number of establishments involved, 1927-36________ 49 T a b le 24.— Number of strikes ending 1927-36, by sex of workers involved- 50 T a b le 25.— Number of persons involved in strikes ending 1927-36, by sex_ 51 T a b l e 26.— D uration o f strikes ending 1 927-36_____________________________ 52 T a b le 27.— Labor organizations involved in strikes ending 1927-36 ______ 56 T a b l e 28.— Major issues involved in strikes ending 1927-36______________ 61 T a b le 29.— Results of strikes ending 1927-36._____________________________ 69 T a b le 30.— Results of strikes ending 1927-36 in relation to major issues in­ v o lv e d __________________________________________________________ 71 T a b le 31.— Results of strikes ending 1927-36 in relation to their duration- 77 T a b le 32.— Results of strikes ending 1927-36 in relation to the number of w orkers in v o lv e d _______________________________________________ 79 T a b le 33.— Strikes beginning 1927-36, in cities which had 10 or more local strikes in an y y ea r____________________________________________ 82 T a b le 34.— Strikes beginning 1927-36, by States___________________________ 86 T a b le 35.— Strikes in each State having 25 or more strikes in any year, 1927-36, b y industry grou p___________________________________ 94 T a b le 36.— Major issues involved in strikes in various industry groups for the 10-year period 1927-36______________________________ 123 T a b le 37.— Strikes beginning 1927-36, by industries and major issues in volved (see p. 180 for index to this table)_________________ 125 T ab le 38.— Strikes in volvin g 10,000 or m ore workers, 1 9 27-36___________ 161 T ab le 39.— Labor disputes in foreign countries, 1927-36__________________ 173 C h a r t s C h art 1.— Trend o f strikes, 1880-1936______________________________________ 20 C h a r t 2.— Strikes during 1 9 27-36____________________________________________ 42 C h a r t 3.— Strikes beginning in each m onth, 1 9 27-36_______________________ 44 C h a r t 4.— Major issues involved in strikes, 1927-36_______________________ 59 C h art 5.— Results of strikes, 1927-36____________ 68 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis PREFACE A strike or lock-out is an evidence of discontent and an expression of protest. While some strikes arise over minor internal shop matters, most of them have broader application and are directed toward a change in basic working conditions or employer-employee relationship. The number of strikes and their magnitude is, therefore, one indica­ tion of the degree of industrial unrest existing at any particular time or in any particular situation. Although an important indicator, strike statistics can never exactly measure industrial unrest. Discontent may be greatest precisely when and because workers exist so precariously that they have no hope of bettering their immediate position through the use of economic weapons. Other political and social statistics must be used to measure the extent of unrest when it is coupled with despair. In general, strike statistics measure such unrest as prevails under circumstances that lead workers to hope that they may better their conditions or mitigate a worsening of conditions through strike action. For example, they tend to be used more sparingly when large numbers of unemployed stand in the streets as competitors for existing jobs. A public opinion or government hostile or indifferent to the claims of labor may decrease the number of strikes while actually increasing the basic unrest. The strike is a cultural development, a conventionalized expression of discontent. It involves mass action and presupposes a belief in the efficacy of mass action. It aims at a temporary and complete inter­ ruption of the process of production, with the expectation that work will be resumed when a settlement is effected. In this respect it differs sharply from the anarchic and continuous expression of dis­ content that manifests itself in sabotage. Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis VI PREFACE The strike is also a more or less definite overt act, growing out of discontent but not measuring with any precision the intensity of that discontent. Statistics of the number of strikes or of their magnitude cannot reflect the obviously differing degrees of discontent felt by the workers in sweated plants, driven almost to the stage of revolt, and by a group of relatively well-paid craftsmen who seize a strategic opportunity to drive a better bargain with an employer. Finally, the frequency and duration of strikes reflect the temper of employers as well as of workers, the extent to which they are unwilling to recognize the union as the representative of the employees, and the extent to which they feel they must resist or are able to resist the demands of a union which they have recognized. Employer resist­ ance, like workers’ overt expressions of protest, varies with the con­ ditions prevailing
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