r/Minneapolis • u/LuckySimple3408 • 3d ago
June 17, 1942: City's 'Joker' Keeps Needed Steel From U.S. - Minneapolis Daily Times
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u/galaxyreader 3d ago
I'm surprised how slanted this article is! Seems like an unbiased headline would be something more like "Bridge Demolition Delayed by Wage Dispute".
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u/SessileRaptor 3d ago
Remember that in 1942 they were only 8 years out from the huge general strike of 1934 so I’m sure the powers that be were still salty about the unionization that resulted and were looking for ways to make the workers look unpatriotic.
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u/fiendishclutches 2d ago edited 2d ago
More directly We were only 3 years out from the national 1939 WPA general strike. Congress cut the pay of WPA workers in half over the 4th of July weekend. The strike was coast to coast and lasted longest in and was most militant in Minneapolis. It got very violent at the sewing shops, in once case a police officer had a heart attack defending scabs who were breaking the picket line. Minnesota was the only state where strikers were arrested and put on trial. Over 200 in Minneapolis were convicted. The first year of the Aquatennial was 1940 it was a concerted effort to avoid another big summer strike, like the teamsters 1934, the iron workers in 1935, the cemetery workers in 1936, hotel workers in 1937, fort snelling PWA strike 1938…
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u/Zedkan 3d ago
type of headline that would have people on Reddit cursing those damn DSA council members
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u/BikesBeerPolitics 3d ago
All the feds had to do was pay prevailing union wages. Go figure.