Fighting Between Teamsters and Police, 1934, Libcom.org
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In 1934, at the peak of the Great Depression, the General Drivers Local 574 union organized 3,000 truckers in Minneapolis, a non-union town. Business leaders, who had long succeeded in keeping unions out of Minneapolis, refused to acknowledge the group. In response, union leaders called a strike. Trucking in the city came to a halt, and the governor called in the National Guard to quell possible violence. In late May, violence erupted between protesters and police. The battle raged for two days, until, on May 25th, business leaders finally agreed to recognize the union. The strike was a watershed moment in labor history, paving the way for dozens of new laws protecting worker’s rights.
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