A few weeks after the end of World War II, New York City came to a standstill. Thousands of elevators hung without operators, doors stood without doormen, and buildings languished without repairmen. Business districts closed down; the Garment District emptied out. Almost all deliveries other than the mail stopped coming into Manhattan. America’s commercial center was shuttered. “Make yourselves comfortable,” one union officer publicly warned. It wasn’t a government shutdown; it was a strike—one that started with the elevator operators, doormen, and maintenance workers, and spread to other unionists across the city. (“Fur workers do not want any scabs to run elevators in fur buildings,” declared one sympathy striker.)
While their collective action was monumental, it was also somewhat routine. After the war, these kinds of strikes were de rigueur: In 1946, 4.6 million people—nearly 10 percent of the American workforce—took to the picket line. General strikes rocked entire communities across the country, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Oakland, California, to Rochester, New York. “It was after the war and I think we needed to get our share,” one Oakland striker later explained. “Industry had sure made theirs during the war.”
Many of the country’s major waves of strikes have occurred like this, as postscripts to shattering events of the 20 th century—in 1919, 1934, 1946. Each catastrophe redefined our sense of “normalcy.” It left workers wondering why they had to sacrifice so much for their country—or why some people got so much while they worked for scraps.
This story is from the January/February 2022 edition of Mother Jones.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January/February 2022 edition of Mother Jones.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
FOOD FOR THOUGHT - CRIME OF THE CROP
Will GMOs harm my kids? Your pediatrician's response might not be grounded in science.
ECONUNDRUMS - CHATBOT QUACKS
AI was supposed to fix online health misinformation. Instead, it's making it worse.
WELL PLAYED
One man’s mission to make gaming a little less white
FIGHTING CHANCE
RUBEN GALLEGO'S BATTLE AGAINST KARI LAKE COULD DECIDE THE FATE OF THE SENATE-AND DEMOCRACY ITSELF. NO PRESSURE.
BLUUD MONEY
Tommy Alba could be a pain in the ass.
Become Ungovernable
The spectacular implosion of the Libertarian Party
Spoiler Alert
Third-party candidates never win national elections, but they can still have serious consequences.
THE DEMOCRACY BOMB
A day ahead of the third anniversary of January 6, President Joe Biden traveled to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-where George Washington encamped during the Revolutionary War-before delivering what he described as a \"deadly serious\" speech framing the stakes of the 2024 election.
OH CRAP - SLUDGE REPORT
Can Maine lead the way to a future without forever chemicals?
JERSEY BOYS - AGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Young voters are powering Rep. Andy Kim's challenge to Trenton's powers that be.