Strikes
At this time in the Labor Movement unions started to strike. Unions would stick together, and would stop working in order to get what they wanted. The things they were striking for included: better wages, better working conditions, and better hours.
+
+
Boston Police Strike
The Boston Police Department had seen a huge dip in their wages during the war to help conserve money. They wanted to help out the war effort, but they also needed to make a living. On September 9, 1919, more than 1100 officers went on strike to try to get some more money back in their paychekcs. the governor of the city , Calvin Coolidge, decided to intervene and put down the strike. He was ultimately succesful and got a reputation as a strict man of law and order. The striking officers were not allowed to recover their jobs and the jobs were given to service men returning from the war.
Miners Strike
The Coal Miner's strike started in 1920, on September 16. The strike started when the miners of the Corona Coal Company killed the general manager, Leon Adler. Although strikebreakers were hired to fill the positions of striking workers, the strikers took extreme measures and bombed these strikebreaker's houses.
Great Railroad Strike
The Railroad Strike's innitial cause was the Railroad Labor Board's announcement that they would be cutting wages by seven cents an hour. After this announcement thre was a vote on whether or not to srike. When employees of the railroads went on strike, strikebreakers were hired to fill their position. When a compromise was made the railroad companies declined. This made workers desperate to get their jobs back, and many employees negotiated deals with their bosses on the local level.