The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-21
By HARRY YARIs

ike OF when nad never
been seen in this otherwise
peaceful city of Milwaukee,
the strike of the Milwaukee
streetcar men was called off
as a result of a truce negoti-
ated by the union officials and
finally ratified by the strikers.
The strike started on Tuesday.
June 26. and was over four short
days after. on the 9th of June;
but in those four days events of
such a startling nature took place
in Milwaukee that many people, es-
pecially those Of the upper classes,
act as if they just awoke from a
bad nightmare. The AIilWauee Sen
tinel, organ of Paul Block. charac-
terizes the events of those days as
follows:
That our city was in a state of
virtual revolution can now be said"
The strikers had gone out in order
to achieve the following demands:
% an increase in wages of 25 per
cent; (2) recognition of the union;
80 reinstatement of 10 men fired
for union activity, Gt was for failure
to do this that the Company had
its Blue Eagle revoked; az with
drawal Of a company union edict
that anyone joining an outside
union would be deprived of all well
fare benefits and of his job. The
union also demanded a vote by
crafts as to who was to be the
representative of the men.
The company refused to grant any
Of these demands end stuck
staunchly to its company union
known as the E. NJ. B. A. 1t did
offer a vote, but one in which all
company employees would be al
lowed to vote Such a vote could
have but one result, upholding Of
the Company union and the union
rightly refused to accept this.
Weak Start
The strike in it's first day seemed
to be predestined to a miserable
failure. The Company rejoiced and
paid for a large advertisement in
the press jubilant over the fact
that on the first day only less than
one hundred had walked out on
strike and service had been normal
The Company rejoiced too soon
They did not count upon one very
important factor that hitherto hao
played no role in the situation snG
dispute, namely the Milwaukee
workers. On Tuesday evening, some
10000 workers. gathered before the
S. Kinnikinnick barns, in the Polish
neighborhood, and stopped all cars
trying to leave for the evening runs
The police were helpless in the face
of the mass wrath, and transpor-
tation was stopped on the lines out
of that barn. This is what really
started the strike.
The next day the city was aflame
with enthusiasm. Those who hac
felt slightly discouraged at the first
day of the strike and the pool
response were filled with energy ano
enthusiasm. Additional groups Of
workers joined the strike, the COM
pany claiming only 157 to be on
strike and the union about twice
that number out of a total of 2.4O0
During the second day all was
quiet again, until late in the after
noon when masses of workers began
to gather once again not before
one car barn, but before a halt
dozen. BY dark there were rs ,O0C
workers gathered before the barns
storming the cars that went out
and came in, and all traffic had t.
be stopped The next day after
traffic resumed in the morning. il
was stopped again in the Afternoon
this time to remain so. The soil.
darity of the Milwaukee worker.
with the strikers, the mightiest
movement Of workers ever developed
in this city, did what the Electric
Company least expected to be dont
during the strike = it stopped al
traffic deader than a door nail.
Workers Learn Their Strength
The spirit of the working class
during these days was tremend.
Gus sight. 1t was like lior
aroused. The Milwaukee workers
who for a score of years had beer
under the stultifying influence Of
the Socialists, Hoan & Co., sud-
denly became aware and conscious
of their strength. The workers hac
been taught that it was not proper
to use militant tactics, that peace
fulness was akin to goodness, anc
for years had believed such sermons
In this strike, they threw off this
lethargic spell and for once hac
the satisfaction of seeing their true
potentialitieS. The results were
most remarkable.
In order to have any possibilities
for success, the strikers of necessity
had to stop street car traffic. The
union leaders had made such mis-
cradle job of the organization of the
strike that all seemed hopeless
However, despite these leaders, the
Milwaukee workers did what wa.
The claims of the union official
are further denied by statemen
issued by S. B. Way, President o