Note: Page numbers in italics refer to graphics and photographs.
A. O. Smith Corporation
automobile industry and, 13
blood donations and, 26
employees of, 11
layoffs from, 155
new factory of, 14
in 1941, 12
reconversion and, 156
union affiliation of employees of, xvii, 9, 10
A.F. of L. Milwaukee Labor Press. See Milwaukee Labor Press
AFL (American Federation of Labor) unions
CIO and, 9
Community-War Chest campaign and, 27
in Milwaukee, xvii
organizing drives, 10
quasi-judicial system of, xiv
records, 197
success of during Depression, 8, 10–11
AFL auto workers, 132
AFL Auto Workers Local 209, 48, 98, 100
AFL Federal Labor Union
22631, 57
AFL Operating Engineers. See International Union of Operating Engineers
Albert Trostel and Sons, 25
Allis, Edward P., 3
Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company
employees of, 11
female workforce of, 127, 133–134
forge shop, 74
grievance system at, 119
hiring by, 14
Keating on, 124
labor-management committee of, 120–121
labor relations policy of, 120
layoffs from, 150
organizing activities at, 116–117
picket line outside, 86
Roosevelt at, 83
UAW Local 248 and, 87–88, 117–120
union affiliation of employees of, xvii, 9–10, 113
Amalgamated Clothing Workers, 111
American Federation of Labor. See AFL (American Federation of Labor) unions
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees’ Union
Local 430, 66
Ampco Metal, Inc., 96–97, 105–108, 124
Arnold, Thurman, 112
Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers Local 335, 131–132
automobile industry, 13
automobiles and rationing, 34, 35–36, 38
B-24 bombers, 13
Bay View Rolling Mills strike, 164n. 17
Beck, William H., 79
Best, Jacob, 2
Blair, John, 116
Blatz, Valentin, 2
Boncel Ordinance, 8
Boston, Massachusetts, 94, 96, 97
Briggs and Stratton Corporation
organizing activities at, 10
production at, 13
profits of, 69
Brodzinski, Valeria, 109–110, 135–137, 198
Brown, Lester, 140
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Consumer’s Prices in the United States, 1942–1948, 194
Cost of Living Index, 54, 55, 56
See also Consumers’ Price Index
Burgardt, G. F., 63
Burke, Walter, 28
Cappel, Walter, 97
Carpenter, Anthony, 28
Chain Belt Company, 12, 69, 77, 125, 142
child-care centers, 128–129, 140–141, 143–145, 146–147
Chinese community, 18
Christensen, Chris L., 40
Christoffel, Harold
Allis-Chalmers and, 116
Community-War Chest and, 28
Milwaukee Industrial Union Council and, 10
on shop stewards, 119
UAW Local 248 and, 118
Wisconsin state CIO board and, 76
CIO auto workers union Local 469, 132
CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations) unions
actions of, xiv
Community-War Chest campaign and, 21, 27
Greenebaum union drive of 1942, 78
in Milwaukee, xvii
strike songbook, 86
CIO News
on reconversion employment, 154, 155
as primary source, 192, 193–194, 198
city employee compensation, 62–66
civil defense network, 21–23, 24, 158
Civilian Defense News, 22
Civil War decade, 2
Cleaners and Dyers Association, 59–61
Cohen, Hy, 39
Coleman, William, 27
Committee on the Care of Children of Working Mothers, 144, 146, 147
Community Chests and Councils, Inc., 27
Community-War Chest, 21, 26–29
Conciliation Service. See United States Conciliation Service
Congress of Industrial Organizations. See CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations) unions
Consumers’ Price Index, 49, 50, 53–54, 57–58
conversion to military production, 11–15. See also reconversion
corporations
organized labor criticism of, 70
reserves of for reconversion, 47, 66–67, 69
sacrifice of profits by, 66–69
cost of living. See standard of living, decline in
Cost of Living Committee, 54–56, 193
Crucible Steel Casting Company, 59
Cutler-Hammer, Inc., 12, 69–70, 85, 126
Dearborn, Michigan, 94, 96, 97
Decker, Charles, 3
Despins, James, 59
discrimination against women, 134–135. See also equal pay issues
Dwyer, Lawrence P., 79
economic security issues, 159–160
Electrical Workers’ Union Local 494, 23
Emergency Price Control Act, 49
Employees’ Mutual Benefit Association, 96–97, 105–108
equal pay issues, 129, 134–135, 136–138, 159–160
Erhman, Clarence, 131
Executive Order 9328, 50
Fabricated Metal Workers Local 19340, 96, 101–103, 104–105, 157, 178n. 19
factory protection programs, 23–24
Falk, Otto H., 4
Falk Corporation, 12
Federal Labor Union 20136, 117
Federal Labor Unions, 9
Federal War Manpower Commission. See War Manpower Commission (WMC)
Felch, Margaret, 17
Filer and Stowell, 5
Firemen and Oilers Local 125, 109–110
First World War and manufacturing, 7
Flat Janitors’ Local 150-B, 23
Frankensteen, Richard T., 128–129
Friedrick, Jacob F., 104
Froemming, Ben, 14
Froemming Brothers Shipyard, 155
FTC. See Milwaukee Federated Trades Council (FTC)
Fur and Leather Workers Local 47, 25, 113
future, concern for
Association of Commerce reports and, 154
industrial conflict and, xii, xiv
women in factory work and, 129–130
garbage collectors, strike by, 45–46, 62–63, 64–66
Garbage Workers Association, 62
gasoline rationing, 34, 35–36, 38
Geier, Frank, 18
General Electric, 124
German immigrants, 2
German population of Milwaukee, 5, 6
Germany in World War II, 19
Geuder, Paeschke and Frey, 94–95, 96, 101–105, 157
Geuder and Paeschke Manufacturing, 5
Globe Steel Tubes Company, 59
Globe-Union, Inc., 92, 126, 130–131
Goldstone, Fred, 27
Gooding, L. E., 108
government awards, 85
government records and publications as primary sources of information, 194–196
Gray, William Dixon, 3
Grede, William, 94, 113, 114–115
Green, William, 78, 89, 101, 104, 118
J. Greenebaum Tanning Company, 113–114
Hackert, Leonard, 100
Handley, John J., 6
Hanner, George, 39
Harley-Davidson Motor Company
female workforce of, 132
organizing activities at, 10
Harnischfeger, Henry, 5
Harnischfeger Corporation
Community-War Chest and, 27
earnings of, 12
history of, 5
Kaminski on, 126
production of, 14
profits of, 69
reconversion and, 156
Haywood, Allan S., 89
Hearst, William Randolph, 193
Heil, Julius, 83
Heinritz, Mel, 28
Hellmich, Edwin, 17
Henderson, Leon, 48
Hill, Lee, 120
Hinkley, George Madison, 3
Holmes, James P., 102, 103, 113, 114, 115
housing authority, 33
housing units, substandard, 30, 34
Hoyt, Lansing, 18
Hummel and Downing Company, 109–110
IAM. See International Association of Machinists (IAM)
industrial conflict
criticism of, xviii
economic foundation of, 48
factors influencing, 88–89, 160
future orientation and, xvii–xviii
as struggle for economic justice, 46–47
industrial production, expansion of during war, 12–13. See also wartime production
inflation
price controls and, 49
International Association of Machinists (IAM), 115–116, 118, 139
International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, 112
International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers, 109–110, 135–137
International Harvester
blood donations and, 26
conciliation case at, 57
gender and pay at, 137
profits of, 69
International Ladies Garment Workers Union, 23, 128
International Longshoremen’s Association Local 815, 111, 198
International Molders and Foundry Workers Local 125, 61, 91–92
International Molders’ Union, 115
International Paper Company, 136–137
International Union of Operating Engineers
Local 311, 92–93, 111–112, 198
iron and foundry industry, 3
Japan, economic isolation of, 19
job freeze, 159
job security, fears for, 47–48
“job skippers,” 45
jurisdictional disputes between unions, 108–112
Kaminski, Rose, 41–42, 124–126, 134, 147–148
Kearney and Trecker Corporation, 12, 24
Keating, Dorothy, 42, 124, 126, 147
Keim, Claude, 39
Kiebler, George, 110
Kiely, Mary, 145, 146–147, 197
Kirkpatrick, Frank, 33
Klein, Muriel, 149
Krug, Julius, 154
Krumbiegel, E. R., 34
Kuemmerlein Jr., George, 35–36
labor
business hostility for, 112–113
Milwaukee Journal and, 45, 47, 65
resentment of employers by, 70
See also labor-management relations
labor federations. See AFL (American Federation of Labor) unions; CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations) unions; unions
labor-management relations
bond drives and, 25
Roosevelt conference on, 90
tensions in, 15
union security and, 108
labor movement
development of, 5
Land, Emory S., 112
Lanham Act, 145
Laundry and Dry Cleaning Drivers
Local 360, 198
leather industry, 2, 3. See also Fur and
Leather Workers Local 47; United
Leather Workers
Lewis, John L., 9
Lindemann-Hoverson stove works, 8
Little, Elizabeth, 77
Los Angeles, California, 96, 97
Louis Allis Company, 26, 76, 84
M-4 Sherman tanks, 13
Macak, Angeline, 135
male workers, reactions to female workers, 127
management
perceived attacks on, xiv
See also labor-management relations
manuscripts as primary sources of information, 196–198
Massey-Harris Company, 12
Master Lock Company, 132
Matchey, Clifford, 131
McAllister, Mildred, 123–124, 126
McStroul, Fred, 134
meat rationing, 37–38, 39, 40–41
Mesarich, Edward, 106
Miller, Freda, 149
Miller, Frederick, 2
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
street view from 1908, 74
taxing authorities, 63
Milwaukee Association of Commerce, 112
Milwaukee County Council of Defense, 22, 196
Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company, 8
Milwaukee Federated Trades Council (FTC)
Community-War Chest and, 26, 28
craft unions and, 117
founding of, 5
Milwaukee Ordnance Plant and, 92
socialists and, 6
success of during Depression, 8–9
Milwaukee Foundry Equipment Company, 59, 96, 97–98
Milwaukee Harvester Works, 73
Milwaukee Industrial Union Council (IUC), 10, 26, 28–29, 197–198
Milwaukee Journal
as anti-labor, 45
business pulse articles, 165n. 32
calls for worker sacrifice by, 47
on garbage workers’ strike, 65
support for business by, 66, 67–68, 69–70
on women workers, 138, 140–141, 142, 148–149
Milwaukee Labor Press
on cost of living, 57
future, concern for, 46–47, 155
on profits, 67
as primary source, 192, 193–194
Milwaukee Ordnance Plant, 92–93
Milwaukee Real Estate Board, 30–31, 33
Milwaukee Sentinel, 123–124, 142, 192, 193
Milwaukee State Teachers College, 147
Milwaukee Steel Foundry, 114
“Miss Victory” campaign, 123–124, 193
Mitchell Field, 94
motherhood, primacy of, 139–141, 143–144
Mucklinsky, Carl, 31
Mueller, Alois, 60
Mueller, Florence, 135
L. J. Mueller Furnace Company, 133
Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, 13, 112
National Defense Advisory Committee, 48–49
National Defense Mediation Board, 52
National Industrial Recovery Act, 116
National Labor Relations Board
Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company and, 8
Seaman Body and, 112
National Small Business Men’s Association, 112
national unity
meaning of, 20
See also patriotism
National War Labor Board. See War Labor Board (WLB)
Nelson, Donald, 14
Nestor, Agnes, 149
newspapers, as primary sources, 192–194
New York, New York, 94, 95, 98
Norbeck, Walter, 101
Nordberg Company
Community-War Chest and, 27
female workforce of, 150
interior of, 82
International Molders and Foundry Workers and, 61, 91–92
operating hours of, 12
North American Aviation, 68
nursery programs. See child-care centers
O’Brien, J. J., 104
Oesterreich, Morris, 63
Office of Price Administration (OPA)
citizen participation in, 20
creation of, 49
food rationing and, 38, 39–40, 41
investigator from, 79
Labor Advisory Committee, 40–41
poster of, 79
Office of War Information, 135
Onarheim, J. I., 14
Operating Engineers. See International Union of Operating Engineers
oral history interviews, as primary sources, 198–199
organized labor. See labor; unions
Pabst, Frederick, 2
patriotism
concern for future and, xiv
displays of, xii
“no-strike pledge” and, xv, 89–90, 91
women in labor force and, 135
See also national unity
Pawling, Alonzo, 5
Pearl Harbor, attack on, 17
Pennycook, John, 3
Petroleum Transport Company, 59
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 94, 95, 98
Piepenhagen, A. G., 111
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 94, 95, 98
Porter, Milton, 145
postwar workforce, projections of, 153–154
Pressed Steel Tank Company, 36
price controls, 49. See also Office of Price Administration (OPA)
Price Stabilization Division of National Defense Advisory Committee, 48–49
primary sources
government records and publications, 194–196
oral history interviews, 198–199
private garbage haulers, 46
production. See wartime production
Pulley, Donald, 14
Ranney, Frank, 157
rationing
meat, butter, and cheese, 37–38, 39, 40–41
processed fruits and vegetables, 37, 38
shoes, 38
Rauch, H. Herman, 103–104, 104
reconversion
consumer goods production and, 155–156
unemployment and, 155
workforce projections and, 154
Reisdorf, Felix, 132
renegotiation act, 67
rent control, 32
Revenue Acts, 68
Rex Chain Belt Company. See Chain Belt Company
Reynolds, Edwin, 4
Rhea Manufacturing Company, 143
Richards, Raymond, 136
Richter, Jean, 84
Rickenbacker, Eddie, 112
Roache, John, 31
Roosevelt, Franklin, 18, 19, 83, 90, 193
Root, Louise, 140
Rose, David G., 5
Rowe, Harold B., 38
Sansone, Frank, 46
Schaefer, Werner, 112
Schmidt, Robert, 132
Schultz, Joy, 156
Scrobell, Alex, 28
Seaman Body, 13, 75, 109, 111–112, 133
seniority provisions, and women, 129
Seville, James, 3
Shea, Edmund, 18
Shephard, George, 46
shoe rationing, 38
shop steward system, 119
shortages at retail level, 39–40
Sigman, David, 49, 50, 55, 101, 118
Signal Battery Company, 150, 155, 156
Smaller War Plants Corporation, 14
Smith, C. J., 4
Smith Labor Bill, 112
Smith Steel Division, 94
Smith Steelworkers’ Union, 61–62
social costs of war, 29
Social Democratic party, 6
“Soldiers without Guns” poster, 77
Sonnemann, W. O., 114
Soutar, Douglas, 60
Sozial-Democratischer Verein, 5–6
staggered work hours program, 35
standard of living, decline in, 46–47, 49–50, 54–55, 81, 160
State, County and Municipal Workers of America, 66
Stimson, Henry, 94
Stockinger, Jacob, 18
Story, Harold “Buck,” 27, 116, 118, 210
strikes
effects of, xvi
garbage collectors’, 45–46, 62–63, 64–66
Hoan administration and, 8
in Milwaukee, 73, 91, 93, 93–95, 96, 97, 98, 99
in nineteenth century, 164n. 17
and “no-strike pledge,” 89–90, 91
patriotism and, xv
reports of, 195
during war years, 90–91, 94–95
structural steel workers, strike by, 94
surplus worker problem, 154
Taylor Manufacturing Company, 12–13
Teamsters
Thompson, B. H., 140
trade unions. See unions
trailer camps, 32
Truck Drivers Local 225, 157–158
Tuchman, Dorothy, 18
turnover of women workers, 142–143
unions
attacks on, by Milwaukee Journal, 68
civil defense and, 23
closed vs. open shop and, 90
Community-War Chest campaign and, 26–29
industrial conflict and, xii–xiii
jurisdictional disputes between, 108–112
on local level, xv
OPA support and, 41
organizing activities of, 113–115, 116–117, 136
quasi-judicial system of, xiv
rationing and, 39
rivalry between craft and industrial, 9–10
support for war effort by, 89–90
war and opportunities for, 20–21
See also strikes; specific unions
United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America
jurisdictional disputes and, 110
Local 409, 133
United Auto Workers (UAW) Union, 97
Local 232, 131
Local 248, 23, 76, 87–88, 115, 117–121
maintenance of membership clause, 118
See also CIO News
United Community Services of Greater Milwaukee records, 196, 197
United Electrical Workers Local 1131, 26
United Leather Workers, 111
United Rubber Workers of America, 92
United States Conciliation Service
Geuder, Paeschke and Frey and, 101, 102, 103, 104
J. Greenebaum Tanning Company and, 113
Harley-Davidson Motor Company and, 58–60
Milwaukee Foundry Equipment Company and, 97–98
Nordberg Manufacturing Company and, 91–92
United States Employment Service (USES)
employment of women and, 139, 140, 142
“Labor Market Development Reports,” 194
posters, 135
postwar period and, 155
United States Rubber Company, 14, 92, 127
United States Securities and Exchange
Commission, Survey of American Listed Corporations, 194
United Steelworkers
“Little Steel formula” and, 52
Local 1527, 142
“urban wage rates,” 56
USES. See United States Employment Service (USES)
Vail, Albert, 106
Victory Kidines, 79
wages
Consumers’ Price Index and, 53–54
durable vs. nondurable goods production, 54
inflation and, 47–48, 49–50, 57
piece rate jobs and, 101–104, 105–108
strikes and, 59
See also base pay rate; equal pay issues; War Labor Board (WLB)
Wall, William, 3
war economy, opportunities of, 14–15
War Labor Board (WLB)
Allis-Chalmers and, 118, 119, 134
Conciliation Service and, 92
Cost of Living Committee, 54
dismissal of cases by, 53
frustration with, 91
functions of, xiv–xv, 48, 51–52, 90, 108
Geuder, Paeschke and Frey and, 103, 104, 157
J. Greenebaum Tanning Company and, 113–114
Harley-Davidson Motor Company and, 99–100
“Little Steel formula” of, 52–53, 55, 56, 57, 59–60
public members of, 56
Smith Steel Foundry and, 114–115
Termination Report, 195
female workers and, 135, 140, 141
“job skippers” and, 45
Women’s Advisory Committee of, 139
Warnimont, Eugene, 143
War Production Board, 25
wartime production
reconversion from, 47, 66–67, 69, 155–156
wages and, 54
Wartime Record of Strikes and Lock-Outs (Swafford), 195
Weber, Frank, 6
West Allis workers, 36
West Allis Works Council, 116–117
Wilson, Nellie, 147
Wisconsin Employment Relations
Wisconsin Motor Corporation, 109, 110
Wisconsin National Guardsmen, 73
Wisconsin State Federation of Labor, 5, 9, 78
Witherow, William, 137
WLB. See War Labor Board (WLB)
WMC. See War Manpower Commission (WMC)
women
child-care arrangements, 145–146, 147–148
debate over continuing employment of, 148–149
discrimination against, 134–135
equal pay issues and, 129, 136–138, 159–160
as labor reserve, 126–127, 138–139
loss of jobs after war and, 134, 149–151, 156
recruitment of mothers and, 139–141
seniority provisions and, 129
strike at Harley-Davidson Motor Company by, 98–101
as temporary workers, 135
traditional role of, xv–xvi, 127, 140
workers, turnover and absenteeism of, 142–143
See also child-care centers
Women’s Bureau, 130, 188n. 77, 196
Wong, Jack King, 18
work environment, fight for control of, xiii–xiv
work relief project, 75
Works Progress Administration, 143, 144–145
work stoppages. See strikes
Yerxa, Elizabeth, 140
Zander, Arnold, 65
Zeidler, Agnes, 41