![]() Allen was a proponent of the law excluding Chinese from immigrating to the United States, and introduced the Renunciation Act of 1944, in the hopes that Japanese-Americans would leave and go back to Japan. Leonard Allen was a Congressman from Louisiana and part of Huey Long’s cabal, which was not a friend to labor. Everyone was rowing in the same boat, doing whatever possible to achieve victory.īut not everyone was satisfied with labor’s cooperation. This despite the fact that by war’s end, union membership had grown to 14.7 million, five times what it had been at the beginning of the Roosevelt administration. He had a no-strike pledge from the largest unions doing the main war work, and though some workers engaged in “wildcat strikes” (strikes without union approval), FDR saw a huge drop in strike idleness and that the strikes were small ones and short besides. The fact that the decline in the number of workers involved was more pronounced than the decrease in number of stoppages, and the decrease in idleness still more pronounced than either, indicates that the strikes which took place were smaller and of shorter duration, than those in 1941. And the decline in strike activity took place in spite of the fact that industrial production was 16% higher and the average number of employed workers was 7% greater than in 1941, while the average cost of living rose about 10%. Usually, in times of rapidly increasing employment, industrial activity, and rising living costs, strikes become more numerous despite these factors being present, this was not the case, however, in 1942. A de minimus amount.Īs compared with 1941, there was a decline of 31% in the number of strikes, 64% in the number of workers involved, and 82% in strike idleness. Only about 28 workers out of 1,000 employed were involved in any strike at some time during the year, and idleness during strikes was estimated to be 1/20th of 1% of the time worked. But these figures amount to less than they seem because of the number of workers and man-hours put in. During the year there were 2,968 strikes, involving approximately 840,000 workers and 4,183,000 man-days of idleness. Looking at the year 1942 as compared to 1941, there was a substantial decline in strike activity. was the “arsenal of democracy.”įDR knew the statistics about strikes that were beginning to come in. Tanks, ships, planes, and trucks were particularly needed as President Roosevelt memorably said, the U.S. In 1941, there had been quite a number of strikes, and the concern labor sought to address was the possible loss of man hours producing essential war equipment and supplies. AFL and CIO leaders made no-strike pledges, voluntarily agreeing to forego work stoppages for the duration of the war. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and Germany soon followed by declaring war on the United Sates, Americans found themselves plunged into the Second World War.
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