Flour City Ornamental Iron Works Strike, 1935
Bibliography
Cary, John W. The Organization and History of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. Arno Press, 1981.
Flour City Ornamental Iron Works. Who Built Our Capital?
https://www.whobuiltourcapitol.org/articles/flour-city-ornamental-iron-works
“Governor Olson Acts After Riot.” Minneapolis Star, September 12, 1935.
“An Indictment of Craft Unionism.” Northwest Organizer, October 23, 1935.
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/northwestorganizer/v1n27-oct-23-1935-nw-org.pdf
“Iron Dispute May End With Ballot Today.” Minneapolis Star, September 21, 1935.
“Latimer to Veto Home Picketing.” Minneapolis Tribune, August 15, 1935.
LeSueur, Meridel. “Minneapolis Counts Its Victims.” New Masses 17, no. 1 (October 1, 1935): 12–15.
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/new-masses/1935/v17n01-oct-01-1935-NM.pdf
“Mayor Latimer and Flour City.” Minneapolis Labor Review, September 13, 1935.
“Metal Workers’ Strike is Solid.” Northwest Organizer, July 31, 1935.
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/northwestorganizer/v1n15-jul-31-1935-nw-org.pdf
Nathanson, Iric. “Violent Labor Protest Rocks South Minneapolis in the 1930s.” Longfellow Nokomis Messenger, August 28, 2020.
“Police Use Tear Gas to Scatter Crowd.” Minneapolis Journal, September 13, 1935.
Quam, Lois, and Peter J. Rachleff. “Keeping Minneapolis an Open-Shop Town: The Citizens Alliance in the 1930s.” Minnesota History (Fall 1986): 105–117. https://storage.googleapis.com/mnhs-org-support/mn_history_articles/50/v50i03p105-117.pdf
Remember 1934. Handing History Onward: Commemorating the Minneapolis Truckers’ Strike of 1934.
https://rem34.ampmpls.com
“Roaring Mass Meeting Demands Latimer’s Scalp; Mayor Slugged on Leaving.” Minneapolis Star, September 13, 1935.
Smemo, Kristoffer. “The Politics of Labor Militancy in Minneapolis, 1934–1938.” MA thesis, History Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2011. page 22
“Two Shot to Death. 28 Injured When Police and Pickets Battle.” Minneapolis Tribune, September 12, 1935.
Chronology
1934–1935
Machinist Local 1313 organizes Minneapolis ornamental iron foundries.
July 11, 1935
The union pickets at three ornamental iron foundries. Workers demand uniform industry wages and union recognition.
July 12
Flour City and two other foundries are picketed. Two more foundries are picketed within days.
July 20
Flour City gets a court order barring interference by pickets.
July 24
The Minneapolis Police Department increases the number of officers guarding Flour City.
July 26
Police escort forty employees into the plant. Mayor Thomas Latimer arrives to arbitrate the strike. A melee ensues as employees leave. Flour City is shut down.
August 7 and 9
Police arrest pickets at the neighborhood homes of non-striking employees. The Minneapolis City Council passes an ordinance to allow pickets in residential areas.
August 16
The union urges the federal government to give Flour City’s million-dollar contract to another foundry.
August 27
Flour City and other foundry owners agree to stabilize wages and hours under existing state law.
September 4
Machinist Local 1313 rejects the owners’ agreement without recognition of the union.
September 6
Employees and armed guards enter Flour City. The union asks the City of Minneapolis to enforce the ordinance against housing in plants.
September 10 and 11
Police, pickets, and protesters battle at Flour City. Two people are killed and twenty-eight are injured.
September 12
Governor Olson orders the closure of Flour City.
September 12
Farmer-Labor organizations and unions call mass meetings demanding that Latimer and the police chief resign.
September 13
Unemployed workers, union members, and strike supporters march down Nicollet Avenue to City Hall, demanding welfare relief. Police break up the protest.
Bibliography
Cary, John W. The Organization and History of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. Arno Press, 1981.
Flour City Ornamental Iron Works. Who Built Our Capital?
https://www.whobuiltourcapitol.org/articles/flour-city-ornamental-iron-works
“Governor Olson Acts After Riot.” Minneapolis Star, September 12, 1935.
“An Indictment of Craft Unionism.” Northwest Organizer, October 23, 1935.
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/northwestorganizer/v1n27-oct-23-1935-nw-org.pdf
“Iron Dispute May End With Ballot Today.” Minneapolis Star, September 21, 1935.
“Latimer to Veto Home Picketing.” Minneapolis Tribune, August 15, 1935.
LeSueur, Meridel. “Minneapolis Counts Its Victims.” New Masses 17, no. 1 (October 1, 1935): 12–15.
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/new-masses/1935/v17n01-oct-01-1935-NM.pdf
“Mayor Latimer and Flour City.” Minneapolis Labor Review, September 13, 1935.
“Metal Workers’ Strike is Solid.” Northwest Organizer, July 31, 1935.
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/northwestorganizer/v1n15-jul-31-1935-nw-org.pdf
Nathanson, Iric. “Violent Labor Protest Rocks South Minneapolis in the 1930s.” Longfellow Nokomis Messenger, August 28, 2020.
“Police Use Tear Gas to Scatter Crowd.” Minneapolis Journal, September 13, 1935.
Quam, Lois, and Peter J. Rachleff. “Keeping Minneapolis an Open-Shop Town: The Citizens Alliance in the 1930s.” Minnesota History (Fall 1986): 105–117. https://storage.googleapis.com/mnhs-org-support/mn_history_articles/50/v50i03p105-117.pdf
Remember 1934. Handing History Onward: Commemorating the Minneapolis Truckers’ Strike of 1934.
https://rem34.ampmpls.com
“Roaring Mass Meeting Demands Latimer’s Scalp; Mayor Slugged on Leaving.” Minneapolis Star, September 13, 1935.
Smemo, Kristoffer. “The Politics of Labor Militancy in Minneapolis, 1934–1938.” MA thesis, History Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2011. page 22
“Two Shot to Death. 28 Injured When Police and Pickets Battle.” Minneapolis Tribune, September 12, 1935.