Stand Up!: The Story of Minnesota’s Protest Tradition

9. War in Minneapolis

83 floyd olson had always been a man with deep sym­ pathy for the underdog, and as world and national events moved toward a climax in 1934, he moved also. Hunger was widespread; in the Twin Cities nearly one in three workers was unemployed; and the country seemed held together only by emergency relief measures. The Farmer-Labor convention that met in March turned its back on moderation and adopted a platform of outright socialism. Olson was swept with it. He declared, Now I am frank to say that I am not a liberal . . . I am what I want to be—I am a radical. I am a radical in the sense that I want a definite change in the system. I am not satisfied with tinkering. I am not satisfied with patching. I am not satisfied with hanging a laurel wreath upon burglars and thieves and pirates . . . I am not satisfied with that. I want, however, an orderly, a sane and a constructive change. I don’t want any more visionary things any more than the hardest tory conservative wants it, but I know the transition can take place and that of course it must be gradual. 9. WAR IN MINNEAPOLIS 84 STAND UP! His words were still ringing through the state when a new and deadly conflict broke out in Minneapolis. Minnesota industry had seen no major strikes since the early 1920s, and industrial unionism was nearly dead. Minneapolis, known nationwide for the effective wall put up by the Citizens Alliance against unions, was also known for some of the longest hours and lowest wages in the country. Now a powerful local of the Teamsters union, organized with Trotskyist leadership , was ready to challenge the thirty years of nonunion rule by the organized employers. As the year 1934 opened, the Teamsters were busy spreading membership in Local 574 to all nonunion workers whose occupations were touched by the trucking industry. This violated the craft model of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, but despite its opposition, low-paid and unorganized workers in Minneapolis warehouses, coal yards, lumberyards, wholesale groceries, gas stations, and many other businesses flocked to the Teamsters. Thus Local 574 became not only an industrial union but actually a union of all workers in everything but name. Likewise, the battle that is known to history as the truckers’ strike, which began in Minneapolis with a successful coal yard strike in February 1934 and lasted off and on through August, was in fact a broad, labor-based struggle for social change. Early in the year Local 574 had opened headquarters in a garage that served as command center, meeting place, and dispensary. There, service was supplied for automobiles that picketers used to get around quickly and blockade truck movements throughout the city. There also a volunteer brigade of some three hundred women, called the “Ladies’ Auxiliary” of Local 574, operated a soup kitchen that provided emergency rations and other help to those who were down and out and War in Minneapolis 85 later gave first aid and temporary care to workers hurt in the street fighting. Led by activist women, some of whom were associated with the Trotskyist group, this female auxiliary served as a bridge between the workplace and the wider community , reaching into churches and cultural organizations and arousing broad support for the strikers. As they had done in 1917, the leaders of the Citizens Alliance organized their own militia to oppose union pickets, but this time the odds were more equal. There was no state military support for the Alliance, although they did enlist help from Minneapolis police. The crowd of striking workers was joined by many of the angry unemployed. Within days the streets of Minneapolis became a bloody battleground. Pressured by both Olson and the National Labor Relations Board, the employers agreed to negotiate but would make no Using tear gas during truckers’ strike, Minneapolis, 1934 86 STAND UP! concessions, and after a lull of a month, street confrontations resumed. This time weaponry escalated from clubs and fists to firearms and brought the death of two strikers along with the wounding of more than sixty others. As governor, Olson was forced to keep the peace and make sure that essential services and deliveries of food and medicine were maintained. He declared martial law and put the National Guard to patrolling the city. Both picketing and nonessential truck movements were prohibited. Even...