Terre Haute General Strike of 1935

The Columbian Enameling and Stamping Company relocated under a new name to Terre Haute earlier in the century and posed a threat to prounion activists, taking a staunch antiunion message. The Depression raised worker unity in Terre Haute and the union won some concessions; however, in the latter half of 1934 the enameling company started to push against the union. In November, the union demanded a wage increase yet the company refused citing economic conditions and further had started to undermine union importance by talking to employees directly. Eventually, the union called for a strike on March 23 and roughly 450 union members, making up around 75% of the total company workforce, walked out. Tensions rose when the company refused to negotiate, continuing to state on June 11 that it would reopen the plant and would no longer deal with unions going forward, despite efforts by the Chamber of Commerce to argue for both sides to come to an agreement. Columbian Enameling brought in uniformed guards and a riot broke out yet support for the strike rose and multiple unions called for a strike beginning July 22 at 1 AM.

The general strike’s effect was immediately apparent: transportation stopped running on schedule, telephones were unoperational, and food prices rose. Strikers patrolling the streets coerced more stores to close their doors. Terre Haute was not self-sustainable, the strike paralyzing its ability to stay afloat. Indiana governor, and pro-New Deal Democrat, Paul McNutt called the national guard into the city the same day at 5 PM. Media reaction was negative to the strikers yet they still saw hope in the Department of Labor and after some intense moments the next day the strike was called off. But Columbian Enameling continued with their plan to reopen with no unions and due to violating a no walkout clause, the union lost legal avenues to remedy the betrayal. The greatest tool of unions had been defeated but still proved that even this far removed from earlier movements could still have a large effect on local economies, and maybe could be stronger if it could spread to other cities.

“Dependence of Cities,” Dubuque Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA), July 25, 1935. https://access-newspaperarchive-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/us/iowa/dubuque/dubuque-telegraph-herald/1935/07-25/. 

Bailey, Gary. 1984. “The Terre Haute, Indiana, General Strike, 1935”. Indiana Magazine of History, September. https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/view/10560.