Revolutionary Teamsters Historical Materialism Book Series Editorial Board Sébastien Budgen, Paris – Steve Edwards, London Marcel van der Linden, Amsterdam – Peter Thomas, London VOLUME 53 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/hm Revolutionary Teamsters The Minneapolis Truckers’ Strikes of 1934 By Bryan D. Palmer LEIDEn • BOSTON 2013 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Palmer, Bryan D. Revolutionary teamsters : the Minneapolis Truckers’ Strikes of 1984 / by Bryan D. Palmer. p. cm. — (Historical materialism book series ; v. 53) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-25420-6 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-25486-2 (e-book) 1. Truck Drivers’ Strike, Minneapolis, Minn., 1934. 2. Truck drivers—Labor unions—Minnesota—History— 20th century. 3. Strikes and lockouts—Trucking—Minnesota—History—20th century. 4. International Brotherhood of Teamsters—History. I. Title. HD5325.M79521934.P35 2013 331.892’813883240977657909043—dc23 2013021423 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 1570-1522 ISBN 978-90-04-25420-6 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-25486-2 (e-book) Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. For Joan and Beth Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... ix Illustrations 1. Revolutionary Trotskyism and Teamsters in the United States: The Early Depression-Years ............................................................................ 1 2. The Mass Strike ................................................................................................... 11 3. Uneven and Combined Development: Class-Relations in Minneapolis .................................................................................................... 29 4. Trotskyists Among the Teamsters: Propagandistic Old Moles ............. 41 5. January Thaw; February Cold Snap: the Coal-Yards on Strike ............. 53 6. Unemployed-Agitation and Strike-Preparation ........................................ 61 7. The Women’s Auxiliary .................................................................................... 75 8. Rebel-Outpost: 1900 Chicago Avenue ......................................................... 83 9. The Tribune Alley Plot and the Battle of Deputies Run ......................... 87 10. May 1934: Settlement Secured; Victory Postponed ................................ 105 11. Interlude ................................................................................................................ 127 12. Toward the July Days ........................................................................................ 137 13. A Strike Declared; a Plot Exposed ................................................................. 151 viii • Contents 14. Bloody Friday ....................................................................................................... 159 15. Labour’s Martyr: Henry B. Ness ...................................................................... 171 16. Martial Law and the Red-Scare ...................................................................... 179 17. Governor Olson: The ‘Merits’ of a Defective Progressive Pragmatism .......................................................................................................... 191 18. Standing Fast: Satire and Solidarity .............................................................. 199 19. Mediation’s Meanderings ................................................................................. 207 20. Sudden and Unexpected Victory ................................................................... 213 21. After 1934: the Revenge of Uneven and Combined Development .... 223 22. Conclusion: The Meaning of Minneapolis .................................................. 249 Appendix Trotskyism in the United States, 1928–33 ................................. 269 References ..................................................................................................................... 293 Index ............................................................................................................................... 301 Acknowledgements This book grew out of my study of James P. Cannon and the development of Trotskyism in the United States. When a chapter on the Minneapolis teamsters’ strikes in the second instalment of that yet-to-be-completed three-volume study grew to 225 pages, written as class-struggle showed some signs of revival in the United States, I decided to turn what I had written into a book of its own. For the Cannon project, I have incurred many debts, outlined in the acknowledge- ments to James P. Cannon and the Origins of the American Revolutionary Left, 1890–1928, and my more focused thanks in this volume complement those earlier statements of appreciation. For financial support, I am greatly indebted to the Canada Research Chairs programme of the federal government of Canada, which has supported this, and other, projects for more than a decade. Trent University, which administers my Canada Research Chair, has always been accommodating and supportive. Since coming to Trent in 2000, I have benefited from a congenial research-environment and the material aid of the senior administration, which has always done what it could to advance my scholarship. I would especially like to thank the current and past Assistant Vice-Presidents of Research, James Parker and Neil Emery, as well as the current Vice-President, Academic and Provost, Gary Boire. Peter Thomas and Sebastian Budgen encouraged me to publish this study in the Historical Materialism Book Series, and I am grateful for their support, reso- lute political commitments, and dedicated work in developing Marxist research and writing. David Broder has been an exemplary reader of my text, a copy- editor extraordinaire, whose meticulous attention to detail and scrutiny of my prose has improved this book immensely. I thank him for his efforts and insights, as well as for his patience and understanding. At Brill, I have benefited from the professionalism of its fine staff. I am particularly thankful for the help I received from Tom Reid and Paul Le Blanc, who read drafts of this book and offered important suggestions for improvement. At the Prometheus Research Library, which has long supported my research on Cannon, providing much in the way of critical engagement with my study as well as material aid in advancing it, Emily Turnbull and Alison Dundy x • Acknowledgements read a preliminary version of this book and prodded me with useful advice, helpful questions, and healthy (if sometimes ignored) scepticism. A Minneapolis expert on the events of 1934, David Riehle, graciously took time to look over this book in manuscript form, offering me his insights and pushing me to clarify certain mat- ters. Tom Mackaman assisted my research of the Minneapolis daily press and other regional sources, and the Minnesota Historical Society gave permission for the reproduction of many of the photographs that appear in this book. I could not have secured access to these images without the gracious and tolerant help of Debbie Miller at the Minnesota Historical Society. Donna T. Haverty-Stacke also read an earlier, shorter, version of this study, offering me much useful com- mentary. Additionally, she kindly provided me with a copy of her forthcoming article on the 1940s trials and convictions of the Minneapolis teamsters’ leaders, as well as much in the way of email-correspondence on this legal assault on the Socialist Workers Party and militant class-struggle trade-unionism, a sub- ject that Joe Allen has also been researching and addressing. Audiences at the Historical Materialism Conference (York University, Toronto, May 2012), and at political forums and public lectures in March 2012 on ‘Class Struggle Unionism and Beyond’ at King’s College, London, Ontario, Brock University, St. Catharines, and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto, listened to my thoughts on the significance of the Minneapolis teamsters’ struggles and helped me to restate my arguments more effectively. Research in the extensive James P. Cannon and Rose Karsner Papers, archived at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, and lightly drawn upon in this book, was facilitated by Jack Barnes, who is the owner of the copyrights in and to the Cannon Papers. He arranged for me to have uninhibited access to these materials, which, at the time, were restricted. The late Frank Lovell and the late Dorthea Breitman encouraged my research, and Dorthea provided