Phelps-Dodge Strike Case Study

“The 1946 Union of Electrical, Radio and Machinist Workers’ Strike Against The Phelps-Dodge Copper Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey” reading gave insight to the Phelps-Dodge strike of 1946. Although the strike was officially about wages, it really had to do with issues regarding considerations of power (Bruno, 345). Laborers who worked at the Phelps-Dodge Copper Company shared a common bond through social and communal interaction. This helped the United Electrical Workers (UE), the union that represented these workers, as there is strength in unity. It was a good thing that the UE represented these workers as Phelps-Dodge had an infamous reputation for busting unions and ignoring its workforce (Bruno, 348). This is similar to the attempts to

bust the strikes outside of the Botto House in Paterson, New Jersey. Many of the workers at Phelps-Dodge Copper Company were immigrants from Europe (Bruno, 349). This is also similar to many of the textile mills workers from Paterson. According to the Paterson Museum and Dr. Sidorick, many of the silk workers were immigrants who came to work for a better life.
It was interesting to read about the ages of the workers.

There was an increase in young workers during World War II (Bruno, p. 360). The same increase in younger workers occurred according to the interviews of Adaline Bloom and Mary Cohen that were utilized in last week’s class. The strike was a huge win for the workers in their grievance to end discrimination in the workplace. I am currently taking an Immigration Law class and an Employment Law class and both professors are teaching about discrimination in the workplace. It is fascinating to learn about the laws and protections that employees now have against discrimination thanks to the work of unions such as the UE. An element of this reading that I found problematic was that Phelps-Dodge had such a well-known and poor reputation for intimidating workers and busting strikes. If this is the case, I question why law enforcement did nothing to stop the retaliation and how these acts were still legal. Also, police and these strikers did not have a pleasant relationship (Bruno, 367). This is similar to many other strikes learned in class about how police interfere with civil strikes. It is obvious that there was collusion between the employers/owners and the police; I also find this problematic and unjust. Not only did Phelps-Dodge hire police, they even hired Mafia figure Anthony Anastasia of Murder Incorporated to break the strike (Bruno, 368). It surprised me that employers would align itself with a shady organization

like the mob. The UE and the strikers successfully got what they wanted despite many obstacles.
McCarthyism was disastrous for the realm of labor.

Many American laborers were communists and thus became targets of the American government (Schrecker, 94). Left-led unions were under attack. The 1947 Taft-Harley Act made it so that union officials had to sign a noncommunist affidavit (Schrecker, 95). Unions are based on unity and a common form of regulation for employers. So, the anti-communist fear oppressed the power and influence of unions. The 1949 CIO convention expelled important left-led unions such as the United Electric Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE). This hurt workers, as unions no longer represented them. I find it problematic and troublesome that the federal government would go to such lengths to protect capitalism. The communist witch-hunt ruined so many individual careers and organizations such as the

UE.
McCarthyism and the communist witch-hunt have always fascinated me. I am always eager to learn more about them and now I have in regards to how they impacted unions. Unions became more bureaucratic and economically secure yet social change was suppressed (Schrecker, 100). Unions, which fight for equality in the workplace, are a stepping-stone to universal change in politics such as full racial equality and universal healthcare. Capitalist cronies quashed left-led unions to preserve competitive capitalist values. The 1946 UE strike affects what I learned in the Schrecker article by capitalists wanting to break it up so that capitalist values could be preserved.