1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,800 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. Over the past several years, 4 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: when there's been some frustration and anger over the state 5 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: of the world or maybe the state of where we live, 6 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: I've seen kind of a tide of people calling for 7 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 1: a general strike, and whenever that happens, I find myself 8 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:37,159 Speaker 1: wanting to do an episode on a general strike. We 9 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: have talked about some general strikes before, back in twenty 10 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: nineteen in two different episodes, we talked about the Winnipeg 11 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: General Strike and the Lemerick Soviet and both of those 12 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:52,280 Speaker 1: had happened in nineteen nineteen, but a lot of those 13 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: calls for general strikes here in the United States in 14 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: the more recent past. Those have happened in the years 15 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: since we did those episodes, especially in the face of 16 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: the COVID nineteen pandemic and the George Floyd protests. In 17 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 1: twenty twenty, we have gotten a ton of requests for 18 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,680 Speaker 1: an episode on the Icelandic general strike, known in English 19 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: as the Women's Day Off, which happened in nineteen seventy five, 20 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: and while I would really love to do an episode 21 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: on that, it is hampered by my inability to read Icelandic, 22 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:28,399 Speaker 1: just the language that the vast majority of stuff about 23 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: that is written in. So that has brought us to 24 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: instead the nineteen forty six Oakland General Strike, which is 25 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,960 Speaker 1: today's subject. The nineteen forty six Oakland General Strike was 26 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: part of a massive wave of strikes that took place 27 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: in the US in nineteen forty five and nineteen forty six. 28 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: For context, much of the federal law around unions at 29 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: this point went back to the National Labor Relations Act 30 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: of nineteen thirty five, also called the Wagner Act. We 31 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: talked more about this law and the con text for 32 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 1: its passage in our most recent Saturday classic on the 33 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: Flint sit down strike. The Wagner Act gave employees the 34 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: right to form unions and barred employers from interfering with 35 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: that right. It also established the National Labor Relations Board, 36 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: which supervised union elections and investigated allegations of unfair labor practices. 37 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: Yeah Prior to the passage of this act, unionizing was 38 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: seen as basically a criminal conspiracy. The Wagner Act was 39 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: framed as diminishing the causes of labor disputes that were 40 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:39,960 Speaker 1: quote burdening or obstructing interstate and foreign commerce. It had 41 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,079 Speaker 1: been passed as part of the New Deal, which was 42 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: the collection of policies, programs, and laws implemented during the 43 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: Roosevelt administration to try to help the United States recover 44 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: from the Great Depression. The Wagner Act had also followed 45 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: a huge wave of strikes another labor unrest in nineteen 46 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: thirty three and nineteen thirty four. Overall, most business leaders 47 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: and Republican politicians were not fans of the Wagner Act, 48 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: but for more than a decade after it was passed, 49 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: Democrats held majorities in both houses of Congress, and the 50 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:17,959 Speaker 1: President was also a Democrat, so for the most part, 51 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: opponents of the Wagner Act were stuck with it. In 52 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 1: nineteen forty one, as industries in the United States were 53 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: gearing up for World War II, there was another wave 54 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: of strikes. The US had not entered the war yet, 55 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: but a range of industries suddenly became critical to the 56 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: war effort. Workers in those industries and elsewhere saw this 57 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:44,559 Speaker 1: as an opportunity to secure higher wages and better working conditions. 58 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: And took aggressive collective action to try to get that done. Then, 59 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: in December of nineteen forty one, Japan bombed the US 60 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: naval station at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the United States 61 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: entered the war. The federal government saw an obvious need 62 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: to put an end to the strikes and to keep 63 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: production going. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration started 64 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: negotiating with union leaders on how to do that. The 65 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: two major union organizations Roosevelt was working with were the 66 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: American Federation of Labor or AFL, and the Congress of 67 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: Industrial Organizations or CIO. There was some animosity between the 68 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: AFL and the CIO. The AFL worked with craft unions, 69 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: which were considered to represent skilled labor, while the CIO 70 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: was focused on industrial workers, who were seen as unskilled. 71 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: The CIO had started off as a committee of the 72 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: AFL before splitting off into its own organization. In late 73 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: December of nineteen forty one, AFL and CIO leadership agreed 74 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: to a voluntary no strike pledge for the duration of 75 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 1: the war, but striking, or at least the th the 76 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: threat of striking, was really the most powerful tool that 77 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: unions had to try to improve their pay and working conditions. 78 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: After union leaders agreed to this no strike pledge, union 79 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: workers started wondering how or even whether their unions would 80 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,839 Speaker 1: be able to fight for them. Support for the AFL 81 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,280 Speaker 1: and the CIO started to wane among union workers, and 82 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: then that led to concerns about whether the AFL and 83 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: the CIO would be able to enforce that no strike pledge, 84 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: like were people just going to go striking anyway without 85 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,480 Speaker 1: their approval? So the government took additional steps to try 86 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: to reduce labor disputes, including establishing a National War Labor Board. 87 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: Among other things. This board established a policy for union security, 88 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: which meant that newly hired workers could automatically become union 89 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,479 Speaker 1: members after fifteen days of work, and their dues would 90 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:58,480 Speaker 1: automatically be deducted from their pay. Many workplaces were essentially 91 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:02,640 Speaker 1: closed shops in which union membership was required in order 92 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,720 Speaker 1: to work there, and as a result, union membership soared. 93 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: These steps did not put a complete stop to striking 94 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:15,040 Speaker 1: or to labor unrest. In June of nineteen forty three, 95 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: Congress passed the Smith Connolly Act, and that act allowed 96 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: the president to take control of privately owned businesses that 97 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: were seen as critical to the war effort if there 98 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 1: was a strike or other labor unrest going on. This 99 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: was passed over Roosevelt's veto on June twenty fifth, nineteen 100 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: forty three. Meanwhile, the US was also trying to keep 101 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: inflation from spiraling out of control, as it previously had 102 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: during World War One. An Office of Price Administration was 103 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: established in nineteen forty one to control the prices on 104 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: a variety of goods. Food rationing was implemented both to 105 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: make sure food was available for the war effort and 106 00:06:57,160 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: to help offset the fact that food prices couldn't be 107 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:05,280 Speaker 1: used to influence consumer demand. Then, in nineteen forty five, 108 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: the war ended the Office of Price Administration, the National 109 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: War Labor Board, and the Smith Connelly Act were all 110 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: supposed to be temporary wartime measures, and they were all 111 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: dismantled and dissolved. Businesses also saw an opportunity to start 112 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: rolling back wartime labor protections, including the National War Labor 113 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: Board's union security policies, and maybe even to roll back 114 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: some of those protections from the Wagner Act. At the 115 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: same time, with an end to price controls, prices searched 116 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty six, inflation surged to eighteen percent. Prices 117 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: doubled for bread and meat, and when Roosevelt re established 118 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: price controls, increased demand for these products led to shortages. 119 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: As soldiers returned from the war and wartime industry shut down, 120 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: unemployment increased, and there was also a huge housing shortage. 121 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: There was also a lot of pent up demand for 122 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 1: goods and services. People had lived through the Great Depression 123 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: in the nineteen thirties and then they had continued to 124 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 1: make sacrifices during the Second World War, so people had 125 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 1: gone from not being able to afford things to not 126 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: being able to get them because of wartime rationing and shortages. 127 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: This all became part of that cycle of inflation and 128 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: scarcity as well. And in light of all of this, 129 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: people were frustrated. Everyone had lived through years of sacrifice 130 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: and this we're all in this together ideology, and people 131 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:43,199 Speaker 1: had lost friends and their loved ones to the war. 132 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:46,319 Speaker 1: Young people felt like they had spent years of their 133 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: lives serving in a war when they should have been 134 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:52,439 Speaker 1: in school or starting a family or establishing themselves in 135 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: a trade, and now that they were home again, wages 136 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 1: were stagnant, prices were skyrocketing, and goods were hard to find. 137 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: Women who had been able to get good paying union 138 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 1: jobs in wartime industries were forced out of those jobs 139 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:10,559 Speaker 1: when men returned from service, mainly into industries that were 140 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: lower paying and not unionized, like retail and domestic work. 141 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:19,000 Speaker 1: So with all of this going on, and with those 142 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: wartime no strike pledges starting to expire, workers once again 143 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: started going on strike. President Harry S. Truman had come 144 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: into office when Franklin D. Roosevelt died in April of 145 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: nineteen forty five, and that November he convened a labor 146 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: management conference with the hope of heading off a crisis. 147 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 1: This conference did not really reach any kind of resolution. 148 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: As unions started negotiating new contracts, many were focused on 149 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: better pay and working conditions, but some unions tried to 150 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: take things a step further and influence society as a whole. 151 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 1: For example, when United Auto Workers started negotiat with GM 152 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty five, they didn't want the cost for 153 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:08,319 Speaker 1: employee raises to be passed on to consumers through higher prices, 154 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: because that would just continue to fuel inflation. The union 155 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 1: wanted a thirty percent wage increase to make up for 156 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:19,079 Speaker 1: the year's workers had gone without raises and the rapidly 157 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: rising cost of living, and thought that GM could afford 158 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: this increase without increasing the price of its vehicles. GM's 159 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,080 Speaker 1: perspective was that, no, it could not afford that kind 160 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:33,719 Speaker 1: of wage increase without also having a price increase, but 161 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 1: even if it could, the price of the product was 162 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:40,680 Speaker 1: up to the business and not the union. These talks 163 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: broke down and a strike started on November twenty first, 164 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 1: nineteen forty five, which lasted for one hundred and thirteen days. 165 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: This was not at all the only strike, and this 166 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:56,560 Speaker 1: wave of strikes continued into nineteen forty six. That year, 167 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: roughly a quarter of union workers in the United States 168 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 1: went on strike at some point. That included two hundred 169 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: thousand electrical workers, two hundred and sixty thousand meat packers, 170 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 1: four hundred thousand coal miners, and seven hundred and fifty 171 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:17,680 Speaker 1: thousand steel workers. In some cases, the federal government stepped 172 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 1: in to seize control of industries that were seen as critical. 173 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 1: This happened in the case of striking railroad workers who 174 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 1: were threatened with military conscription, and with the meat packing plants. 175 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:35,400 Speaker 1: In addition to strikes across specific industries. There were multiple 176 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: general strikes in nineteen forty five and nineteen forty six. 177 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 1: These often started with a specific union going on strike, 178 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:46,719 Speaker 1: and then other unions and non union workers joined them 179 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: in solidarity. For example, in Stamford, Connecticut, the International Association 180 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:56,120 Speaker 1: of Machinists was negotiating a contract with Yale and Town Company. 181 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:59,160 Speaker 1: They could not reach an agreement and a strike was 182 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:03,560 Speaker 1: called on November seventh, nineteen forty five. When local police 183 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,560 Speaker 1: refused to intervene, the governor sent in the state police, 184 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: and people were outraged. Stamford had a population of sixty 185 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:16,840 Speaker 1: five thousand people, and an estimated twenty thousand participated in 186 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: a one day general strike that shut the city down. Eventually, 187 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:25,160 Speaker 1: federal negotiators stepped in and the Iam and Yale in 188 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 1: Town Company reached an agreement in April of nineteen forty six. 189 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: Another general strike was in Rochester, New York. In May 190 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: of nineteen forty six. City manager Lewis V. Cartwright fired 191 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:43,439 Speaker 1: almost five hundred municipal workers who were trying to unionize, 192 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: and then fired more than sixty truck drivers who walked 193 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,400 Speaker 1: off the job to protest those firings. There was a 194 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:55,239 Speaker 1: mass demonstration in support of the fired workers who were rehired, 195 00:12:55,679 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 1: but the city manager refused to recognize the union still. 196 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: This led to a general strike on May twenty eighth 197 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: that involved all thirty five thousand members of AFL and 198 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: CIO unions in the city. There were general strikes in Hartford, Connecticut, Camden, 199 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 1: New Jersey, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania as well, and in Oakland, California, 200 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: which we will get into after a sponsor break. In 201 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 1: nineteen forty six, retail workers in Oakland, California, were trying 202 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:39,439 Speaker 1: to unionize. Retail unions in the area included the Department 203 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:44,440 Speaker 1: and Specialty Store Employees Union Local twelve sixty five and 204 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 1: the Retail Clerk's International Protective Association. The Department and Specialty 205 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:54,960 Speaker 1: Store Employees Union had already organized the Shcress Store in Oakland, 206 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:58,960 Speaker 1: as well as some of the city's shoe stores. Workers 207 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 1: were also trying to organized at CON's Department Store and 208 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 1: at Hastings Clothing Company, which were both in Laidtham Square 209 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: across the street from one another. Workers at Cons and 210 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,160 Speaker 1: Hastings had learned that workers at the unionized stores were 211 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:15,679 Speaker 1: making about ten dollars a week more than they were. 212 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 1: Retail workers also wanted to move away from a ready 213 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 1: room system of getting shifts. Workers who didn't have an 214 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 1: assigned shift for the day were expected to wait in 215 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 1: a room in the store's basement, arriving in the morning 216 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: and then waiting to see if they were needed. They 217 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 1: often waited until lunchtime or later before being either called 218 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 1: up to work or sent home, and they were not 219 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 1: paid for their time while they waited in the ready room. 220 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: About three quarters of the eight hundred and fifty employees 221 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: at CONS had voted to unionize. Hastings was a smaller 222 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: store than CONS, but almost all of its one hundred 223 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 1: employees were on board. Most of the workers who were 224 00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: trying to organize were white women, and a lot of 225 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: them were middle ag aged or older. Many of them 226 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: had worked at the stores for years. Many had also 227 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 1: had high paying union jobs in Oakland's shipyards during the war, 228 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: and so they already had experience in being in a union, 229 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 1: and they wanted a union at their retail job, but 230 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:23,200 Speaker 1: the stores refused to negotiate. The Retail Merchants Association, or RMA, 231 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: united all the big department stores in Oakland and Berkeley. 232 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:31,760 Speaker 1: It was deeply anti union Cress and the unionized shoe 233 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: stores had both been forced to leave the RMA after 234 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:39,720 Speaker 1: recognizing their employees' unions. Management at cons and Hastings did 235 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: not want the same thing to happen to them. Management 236 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: said they would only recognize the union if all twenty 237 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: eight stores they were part of the RMA agreed to unionize. 238 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 2: That was just not feasible. 239 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 1: Workers at Hastings went on strike on October twenty third, 240 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: nineteen forty six. About a week later, on October thirty first, 241 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: workers at CON's went on strike as well. Although the 242 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: leadership of the Teamsters union seems to have been kind 243 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: of ambivalent about the retail workers' strike, Teamsters refused to 244 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: cross the picket lines to deliver goods to the stores. 245 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 1: Other unions in Oakland also encouraged their members not to 246 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: cross the picket lines to go shopping. At this point, 247 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: Oakland City Council, the police, and the Oakland Tribune were 248 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: all tightly connected. Joseph Noland, who had previously served in 249 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: the California State Senate and in the US House of Representatives, 250 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: owned the newspaper, and a lot of other powerful people 251 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 1: in California had personal or political connections to him. Noland 252 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: had also supported Earl Warren in his bid to become 253 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:52,840 Speaker 1: governor of California, so he had a very wide network 254 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: of very powerful political connections that stretched well beyond Oakland. 255 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:00,440 Speaker 1: In other words, while the retail workers had a lot 256 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 1: of support from unionized workers in the city, the city 257 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 1: itself and its Republican political machine were both entrenched and 258 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 1: both very anti union. As December and the Christmas shopping 259 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:17,439 Speaker 1: season started to approach, workers at both stores were still 260 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:21,200 Speaker 1: on strike, even though a lot of shoppers were refusing 261 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: to cross the workers picket lines. The stores had gone 262 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:28,160 Speaker 1: without deliveries for weeks, so their stock was getting low. 263 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:33,159 Speaker 1: Teamsters were not delivering merchandise, but the striking workers knew 264 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: that it was possible that strike breakers would be brought 265 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,120 Speaker 1: in to deliver things in their place, so the workers 266 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 1: were keeping an eye on the stores, and they were 267 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,159 Speaker 1: also parking their cars in the loading areas so that 268 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 1: trucks could not get in if they did arrive. According 269 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:52,919 Speaker 1: to the strikers, they had a verbal ok from the 270 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 1: police to park their cars at the loading docks and 271 00:17:56,119 --> 00:18:01,000 Speaker 1: assurances that their cars would be safe there. On December first, 272 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,919 Speaker 1: the city and the RMA had police forcibly clear roughly 273 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:09,199 Speaker 1: five hundred picketing workers from around the stores. Some of 274 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:11,959 Speaker 1: the nearly two hundred and fifty police officers who were 275 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,439 Speaker 1: dispatched to the downtown area were armed with tear gas 276 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:18,840 Speaker 1: and gas masks, but they mostly did this by shoving 277 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:21,359 Speaker 1: people out of the way with their clubs, battering and 278 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:24,840 Speaker 1: bruising some of the strikers in the process. Some of 279 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:27,920 Speaker 1: the striking workers and their supporters were injured during all 280 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:32,439 Speaker 1: of this, mostly after being struck with officers clubs, but 281 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:36,520 Speaker 1: one man Newton's Salvage, had to be hospitalized after being 282 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:41,200 Speaker 1: knocked down by a police officer on a motorcycle. Police 283 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: also towed the workers' cars out of the loading areas, 284 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 1: and according to some reports, they left those cars in 285 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: gear while towing them to intentionally damage their transmissions. After 286 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:56,800 Speaker 1: clearing people out of the downtown area, police established a 287 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:00,680 Speaker 1: cordon and escorted six trucks through it. Each of those 288 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 1: trucks made two trips from a warehouse in Berkeley where 289 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: the merchandise had been staged for delivery. It was clear 290 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: to the strikers and their supporters that this had all 291 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,920 Speaker 1: been planned out and coordinated and that the city government, 292 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,119 Speaker 1: the police, and store management had all been involved. The 293 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: trucks were from Veterans Trucking Company, which employed combat veterans 294 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:26,880 Speaker 1: and had been established by the Merchants and Manufacturers Association 295 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:32,159 Speaker 1: to deliver merchandise during strikes. This led to some altercations 296 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,239 Speaker 1: between the veterans who were breaking the strike and the 297 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 1: ones who were on the picket lines. Newton Salvage, who 298 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: we mentioned a moment ago, was a streetcar operator, and 299 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 1: when the street cars and buses started arriving on scene 300 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 1: just as part of their daily routes, a lot of 301 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:55,200 Speaker 1: their operators refused to cross the police cordon. Operators stopped 302 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 1: their street cars and removed the control mechanisms which rendered 303 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:03,680 Speaker 1: them inoperable and immovable, and bus drivers also left their 304 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:07,879 Speaker 1: buses and just walked away. Al Brown, president of the 305 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,159 Speaker 1: Carmens and Drivers Union, was part of this action with 306 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: the street cars and described the police cordon as a 307 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:18,439 Speaker 1: picket line he refused to cross. F I'm understanding his 308 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:22,440 Speaker 1: statement correctly, this sounds like the malicious compliance on his part. 309 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: This action by the street car drivers and the bus 310 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: drivers really snarled traffic all over Oakland for hours. Over 311 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:33,959 Speaker 1: the course of the day, people in Oakland became really 312 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,720 Speaker 1: angry about what was happening. It wasn't just that truck 313 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:40,520 Speaker 1: drivers had been hired to break the strike. It was 314 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 1: at the police, which people had paid for with their taxes, 315 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 1: were protecting the strike breakers, shoving around the strikers, many 316 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,159 Speaker 1: of whom were women, and keeping people out of the 317 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:56,159 Speaker 1: downtown area. In later interviews, Joe Showday of the International 318 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: Typographical Union described this use of taxpayer funded place least 319 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:03,639 Speaker 1: to quote, beat us off our own streets was quote 320 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: the first step toward fascism. The only workers actually on 321 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: strike on December first were the workers at cons and Hastings, 322 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 1: and then there were teamsters who were refusing to cross 323 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:20,920 Speaker 1: their picket lines in solidarity. On December second, union officials 324 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:23,879 Speaker 1: from the AFL and the CIO met to decide what 325 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 1: to do. Ultimately, the AFL told its members in Oakland 326 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 1: to quote take a holiday the next day to protest 327 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 1: the use of police force to try to break the strike. 328 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,440 Speaker 1: A mass meeting had already been scheduled to take place 329 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 1: that night in support of the striking retail workers. The 330 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 1: general strike officially started at five am on Monday, December third, 331 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,200 Speaker 1: about one hundred thousand AFL workers across the county didn't 332 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: show up for work or walked off the job. Between 333 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:57,639 Speaker 1: the retail workers and their supporters from other unions, there 334 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:00,960 Speaker 1: were more than five thousand people picketing front of the stores, 335 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,120 Speaker 1: with reports of much greater numbers in the surrounding area. 336 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,880 Speaker 1: Street Cars and buses didn't leave their yards after five am, 337 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 1: so there were massive traffic jams all around Oakland. Union 338 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:17,119 Speaker 1: typesetters and press operators joined the strike, so this also 339 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 1: stopped the presses at the Oakland Tribune. The Sailors Union 340 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,120 Speaker 1: of the Pacific walked off of three ships that were 341 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,679 Speaker 1: docked at the Port of Oakland, which were all loaded 342 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 1: up and ready to depart. This general strike basically took 343 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:35,640 Speaker 1: over the whole downtown area. Teamsters patrolled to make sure 344 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 1: things stayed peaceful, and since the city was decorated for Christmas, 345 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: this turned into kind of a festival atmosphere. Bars were 346 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:46,199 Speaker 1: allowed to stay open if they only served beer but 347 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 1: not liquor, and if they moved their jukeboxes onto the 348 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:53,160 Speaker 1: sidewalks and let people play them for free, especially into 349 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,639 Speaker 1: the afternoon in the evening, this really felt kind of 350 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:59,119 Speaker 1: like a party. But while there was immense support for 351 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,760 Speaker 1: the general strike among union members, there wasn't a lot 352 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:07,399 Speaker 1: of coordination or planning from union leaders. For example, a 353 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:11,639 Speaker 1: well planned general strike can keep basic critical services running, 354 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: both to try to maintain goodwill with local residents who 355 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: aren't striking, and to make sure the strikers have access 356 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: to the supplies and support they need. In Oakland, virtually 357 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: all the stores were shut down except for food stores 358 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:30,639 Speaker 1: and pharmacies. Unionized restaurants shut down, and picketers forced the 359 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 1: non union restaurants to shut down as well. The milk 360 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:37,439 Speaker 1: wagon drivers union had objected to the general strike, and 361 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:41,160 Speaker 1: they were allowed to continue delivering milk, but before long, 362 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: with all the restaurants closed, people were starting to get hungry. 363 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 1: Strikers also realized that single men living in boarding houses 364 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,679 Speaker 1: in Oakland had no kitchens and relied on those restaurants 365 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: for all their food, so as the day wore on, 366 00:23:56,080 --> 00:24:00,960 Speaker 1: some of the restaurants were allowed to reopen. Night, about 367 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:05,240 Speaker 1: ten thousand AFL union members gathered at Oakland Auditorium for 368 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 1: a mass meeting, with at least five thousand people listening 369 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:13,399 Speaker 1: to the address over speakers outside. This was especially a lot, 370 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: considering that it was raining really hard that night. Speakers 371 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:20,879 Speaker 1: included James Galliano, who was attorney for the clerks and 372 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:25,119 Speaker 1: the Labor Council, and Harry Lindeberg, who was secretary Treasurer 373 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:29,159 Speaker 1: of the Sailors Union of the Pacific. This meeting was 374 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 1: more like a rally than a planning meeting, with Lundenberg 375 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,639 Speaker 1: giving the most radical speech, which described the police department's 376 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: actions as fascism in America. As the general strike stretched 377 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:45,199 Speaker 1: into December fourth, concerns were growing among the leadership of 378 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:49,040 Speaker 1: the AFL. Most of the unions that were participating were 379 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: AFL unions, but there wasn't really anyone in charge on 380 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:56,119 Speaker 1: site at the strike or a clear set of demands. 381 00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: Demonstrators had started calling for the mayor in the entire 382 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 1: city council to resign, which went well beyond the demands 383 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:08,600 Speaker 1: of a simple labor negotiation. International Teamster president Dave Beck 384 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:12,280 Speaker 1: also called the general strike quote a lot of foolishness 385 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,080 Speaker 1: and described it as more like a revolution than an 386 00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 1: industry dispute. There were some discussions of starting another general 387 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:24,560 Speaker 1: strike across the Bay in San Francisco. The CIO also 388 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:28,320 Speaker 1: started discussing whether its unions should join the general strike. 389 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,960 Speaker 1: Since the CIO's unions included workers at pretty much all 390 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,159 Speaker 1: of the city's basic utilities, this could have given the 391 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:40,439 Speaker 1: strikers an incredible amount of bargaining power. Most of the 392 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: city's unionized black workers were also in CIO unions, so 393 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,400 Speaker 1: CIO involvement would have brought more of these workers into 394 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:52,320 Speaker 1: the strike as well. But on December fifth, the AFL 395 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 1: Central Labor Council of Oakland called for an end to 396 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,640 Speaker 1: the general strike after a vote by business agents. Those 397 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 1: are two the people who act as liaisons between the 398 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,840 Speaker 1: union and the management. Beck also ordered the Teamsters to 399 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:11,480 Speaker 1: resume their deliveries to the stores. City manager JF. Hassler 400 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 1: had given verbal assurances that the Oakland Police would no 401 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 1: longer protect in non striking trucks that were trying to 402 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 1: deliver to the stores. The Labor council decided that the 403 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,360 Speaker 1: use of police to protect the trucks was what had 404 00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: prompted the general strike, and now that that was resolved, 405 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:31,200 Speaker 1: there was no reason to continue. Also, at this point, 406 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:34,400 Speaker 1: the mayor had been given emergency powers, although those had 407 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,439 Speaker 1: not been put into use, and there were rumors that 408 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:41,040 Speaker 1: federal troops were going to be deployed. Yeah, so there 409 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:43,360 Speaker 1: were concerns that things in Oakland were going to get 410 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,840 Speaker 1: a lot worse than the kind of peaceful party atmosphere 411 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:51,000 Speaker 1: that they had had. The general strike ended on December fifth, 412 00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:54,800 Speaker 1: nineteen forty six, at eleven a m. Having lasted for 413 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:59,200 Speaker 1: fifty four hours. A lot of the actual strikers were 414 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:02,440 Speaker 1: furious at the decision to call it off, and many 415 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:07,360 Speaker 1: of the striking retail workers felt betrayed and angry. None 416 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: of those workers' actual issues had been addressed, and store 417 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,679 Speaker 1: management was still refusing to negotiate with them or to 418 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: recognize their union. In spite of the order for teamsters 419 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: to return to work at the stores, a lot of 420 00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:24,640 Speaker 1: them continued to refuse to cross the picket line. These 421 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:27,719 Speaker 1: picket lines also got a lot smaller after the RMA 422 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:31,680 Speaker 1: got an injunction to allow only five pickets at each 423 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 1: store entrance. The city managers also did not keep their 424 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,879 Speaker 1: promise not to use police to protect deliveries to the store. 425 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:45,800 Speaker 1: After the general strike, the AFL, CIO and NAACP united 426 00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 1: to form the Oakland Voters League. The league tried to 427 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: build connections between organized labor and the city, which was 428 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:57,640 Speaker 1: predominantly white, and the city's black voters and civil rights activists. 429 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,480 Speaker 1: The league also backed candidate for the five city council 430 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:04,159 Speaker 1: seats that were up for election in nineteen forty seven. 431 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 1: Four of those candidates won. The fifth, Glenn Goldfarb, lost 432 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,119 Speaker 1: very narrowly. There is some speculation that this may have 433 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:15,640 Speaker 1: been due to the design of the ballot which made 434 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,639 Speaker 1: his opponent look like part of the labor ticket, or 435 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,440 Speaker 1: it could have been because of anti semitism. This council 436 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: had nine members, so the ticket didn't have a majority, 437 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 1: so this wound up being more of a symbolic win 438 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: than an ushering in of change in the city. The 439 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:35,800 Speaker 1: Oakland Voters League was also short lived. It dissolved after 440 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: not seeing similar successes. In nineteen forty nine, the retail 441 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 1: workers strike ended the day before the city election, and 442 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:48,520 Speaker 1: a week later the Retail Merchants Association recognized Local twelve 443 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 1: sixty five as the union for all of its stores. 444 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: It took years for the workers at cons and Hastings 445 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,640 Speaker 1: to actually get a collective bargaining agreement in place, though 446 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: this general strike, along with the other strikes in nineteen 447 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:05,720 Speaker 1: forty five and nineteen forty six led to changes in 448 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:08,480 Speaker 1: federal law, and we'll get into all of that after 449 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: a sponsor break. The nineteen forty six Oakland General Strike 450 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: took place after that year's general election, in the face 451 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 1: of rampant inflation and massive labor unrest. Republicans had taken 452 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:34,320 Speaker 1: the majority in both houses of Congress. Although Democrat Harry 453 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:38,440 Speaker 1: Truman had been re elected as president, this was the 454 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: first time since nineteen thirty three that Democrats had not 455 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: controlled both houses of Congress, and for almost all of 456 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 1: that time, the president had also been Franklin D. 457 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 2: Roosevelt. 458 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: When the new Congress was sworn in in nineteen forty seven, 459 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:57,600 Speaker 1: legislators immediately got to work introducing bills related to labor, 460 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,920 Speaker 1: specifically bills that would put in new limits on the 461 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:04,840 Speaker 1: Wagner Act. It wasn't just about the immense wave of 462 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: strikes that had happened in nineteen forty five and nineteen 463 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: forty six. This was at the start of the Cold 464 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,960 Speaker 1: War between the United States and the Soviet Union, and 465 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:19,000 Speaker 1: legislators had deep concerns about communism within the nation's organized labor, 466 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,440 Speaker 1: and communism had been a big part of the labor 467 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:26,200 Speaker 1: movement starting in the early twentieth century, with many union's 468 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:31,640 Speaker 1: most effective organizers also being Communist Party members. This wasn't 469 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,760 Speaker 1: the first time there had been heightened concerns about communism 470 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:38,440 Speaker 1: in the US. We've done several previous episodes related to 471 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 1: the first Red Scare of the nineteen teens, including our 472 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:45,120 Speaker 1: two parter on the Palmer Raids. The nineteen teens, like 473 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:48,000 Speaker 1: the mid nineteen forties, had also been a time of 474 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:52,800 Speaker 1: widespread labor activism and strikes. As we said, a lot 475 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: of the bills that were introduced were related to all 476 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,440 Speaker 1: of this in some way, but two really came to 477 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:03,200 Speaker 1: the forefront. One introduced in the Senate by Robert A. 478 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 1: Taft of Ohio, chair of the Senate Labor Committee, and 479 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:10,040 Speaker 1: the other in the House by Representative fred A. Hartley 480 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:13,360 Speaker 1: Junior of New Jersey, the Republican chair of the House 481 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:19,400 Speaker 1: Education and Labor Committee. Broadly speaking, Hartley's bill was more 482 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:23,320 Speaker 1: restrictive than Tafts was, and the version that ultimately passed 483 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:26,920 Speaker 1: both houses of Congress included elements of both of their bills. 484 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:31,840 Speaker 1: The resulting law is the Labor Management Relations Act, but 485 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:36,840 Speaker 1: it's more commonly known as Taft Hartley, the AFL Central 486 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 1: Labor Council had teamed up with the CIO to create 487 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:44,560 Speaker 1: a joint committee to combat anti labor legislation, and unions 488 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:49,440 Speaker 1: demonstrated against this bill. This included a Detroit rally planned 489 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,720 Speaker 1: by United Auto Workers, which had about two hundred thousand 490 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:58,160 Speaker 1: people in attendance. Workers, union organizers and their supporters called 491 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:02,080 Speaker 1: on Truman to veto this bill. Truman did, calling it 492 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:07,400 Speaker 1: quote completely contrary to that national policy of economic freedom. 493 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:11,200 Speaker 1: He said that it would encourage quote distrust suspicion, and 494 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:15,479 Speaker 1: arbitrary attitudes, and he also used words like drastic and 495 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:21,440 Speaker 1: unworkable in reference to it. Overriding the president's veto requires 496 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:25,680 Speaker 1: a two thirds majority of Congress, and the Republican Party 497 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:29,920 Speaker 1: had only a narrow majority in both houses, but the 498 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:33,880 Speaker 1: Taft Hartley Bill had bipartisan support, and Truman was not 499 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:38,520 Speaker 1: able to rally enough Democrats to stop Congress from overriding 500 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:42,360 Speaker 1: his veto. One thing working against him here was racism. 501 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:45,720 Speaker 1: Shortly after the end of World War Two, the CIO 502 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:49,840 Speaker 1: had launched Operation Dixie to try to unionize industries in 503 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 1: the South, including black and white workers, and Southern Democrats 504 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:59,040 Speaker 1: were deeply opposed to this effort. The Taft Hartley Act 505 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:03,120 Speaker 1: became law on June twenty third, nineteen forty seven, amending 506 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:07,320 Speaker 1: the Wagner Act of nineteen thirty five. Legislators framed it 507 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:11,560 Speaker 1: as restoring the balance between labor and management, or unions 508 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:16,000 Speaker 1: and employers, while unions described it as a slave labor law. 509 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:21,240 Speaker 1: The Wagner Act had outlined a series of unfair labor 510 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:26,720 Speaker 1: practices that were outlawed for employers. Taft Hartly outlined unfair 511 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:32,480 Speaker 1: labor practices for unions as well. It outlawed secondary boycotts, 512 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:37,040 Speaker 1: meaning that unions cannot take action against neutral third parties 513 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:40,520 Speaker 1: in disputes with an employer. So, as an example, a 514 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:44,360 Speaker 1: retail workers union could not plan a boycott of a 515 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: clothing manufacturer whose goods are being sold at their store. 516 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 1: Sympathy strikes were outlawed as well, like the Teamsters striking 517 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:57,800 Speaker 1: in support of Oakland's retail workers, This essentially outlawed the 518 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 1: type of general strike that had been carried out out 519 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:03,280 Speaker 1: in Oakland and several other cities in the United States 520 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:06,479 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty five and nineteen forty six, and it 521 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:11,480 Speaker 1: also outlawed wildcat strikes, or strikes undertaken by union members 522 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:16,360 Speaker 1: without the union leadership's authorization. Some of the other Taft 523 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:21,040 Speaker 1: Hartley provisions included a ban on feather bedding, that's forcing 524 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:24,719 Speaker 1: an employer to pay for work that wasn't actually done so. 525 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:27,480 Speaker 1: An example of that would be if a factory moved 526 00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:31,200 Speaker 1: from a manually operated machine to an automatic one, the 527 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:34,320 Speaker 1: union could not force the employer to keep that person's 528 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:36,920 Speaker 1: job even though there was no longer work to do. 529 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,720 Speaker 1: It also outlawed closed shops that required workers to already 530 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 1: be a member of a union before being hired, although 531 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:48,080 Speaker 1: it allowed union contracts that required workers to join the 532 00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:52,600 Speaker 1: union after being hired. It also allowed states to pass 533 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:55,680 Speaker 1: open shop legislation, or what is known as right to 534 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,480 Speaker 1: work laws, which allow people to work at unionized workplaces 535 00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:02,520 Speaker 1: with out being compelled to become a member of the union. 536 00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:05,759 Speaker 1: These kinds of laws are currently on the books in 537 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:09,439 Speaker 1: twenty six US states, as well as Guam. The law 538 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:12,279 Speaker 1: also gave the US Attorney General the authority to use 539 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:16,160 Speaker 1: injunctions to prevent a strike if it would quote imperil 540 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:19,879 Speaker 1: the national health or safety and required unions to give 541 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:24,759 Speaker 1: employees and managers advanced notice of strikes. There were a 542 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:27,680 Speaker 1: lot of other Taft Hearty provisions as well, and we're 543 00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:30,000 Speaker 1: not going to try to talk about every single one 544 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:32,520 Speaker 1: of them, but a major one that we have not 545 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:37,640 Speaker 1: talked about is that Section nine H required union officers 546 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:42,440 Speaker 1: to sign non communist affidavits. If union leaders did not, 547 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:45,920 Speaker 1: their union would not be allowed to have an election 548 00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:50,400 Speaker 1: overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, and the NLRB 549 00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:54,680 Speaker 1: also would not investigate any claims that the union filed 550 00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:59,440 Speaker 1: about alleged unfair labor practices. This meant that unions had 551 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:03,160 Speaker 1: to per communists from their leadership if they wanted the 552 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:08,200 Speaker 1: protections and recognitions that exist under federal law. This caused 553 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:12,000 Speaker 1: a lot of unions, especially industrial unions, to lose some 554 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:16,279 Speaker 1: of their most dedicated and experienced leaders, who either refused 555 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:19,480 Speaker 1: to sign these affidavits or were ousted because of their 556 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:23,840 Speaker 1: ties to communism. The Taft Hartley Act had an obvious 557 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:28,200 Speaker 1: effect on things like sympathy strikes and secondary boycotts. The 558 00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:31,480 Speaker 1: Oakland General Strike was the last major general strike in 559 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:35,359 Speaker 1: the United States for decades. There have been some more 560 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:38,760 Speaker 1: recent general strikes in the US, including the twenty eleven 561 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:42,560 Speaker 1: Oakland General Strike, the Essential Workers General Strike in the 562 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:46,000 Speaker 1: early months of the COVID nineteen pandemic, and the Strike 563 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:50,000 Speaker 1: for Black Lives on July twentieth, twenty twenty in some 564 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,320 Speaker 1: of these labor unions have expressed support for the strike, 565 00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:57,520 Speaker 1: but without explicitly instructing their members to participate, which would 566 00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:01,600 Speaker 1: be illegal under the Taft Hartley Act. Several unions were 567 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:03,960 Speaker 1: involved with the Strike for Black Lives, but this was 568 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:07,480 Speaker 1: framed as a one day walkout rather than an ongoing 569 00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:12,240 Speaker 1: general strike. Beyond that, it's impossible to hit every detail 570 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:15,280 Speaker 1: of the Taft Hearty Act and its impact and legacy, 571 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:18,520 Speaker 1: and like the wrap up of a single podcast episode, 572 00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:21,839 Speaker 1: there is an argument that a lot of its provisions 573 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:26,759 Speaker 1: legally codified decisions that the NLRB was already making, rather 574 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,759 Speaker 1: than trying to set a whole new precedent. Its weakening 575 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:34,200 Speaker 1: of union rights and protections was a factor in the 576 00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:39,000 Speaker 1: AFL and CIO ultimately merging into one organization in nineteen 577 00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:43,960 Speaker 1: fifty five. This made the AFL CIO one enormous umbrella 578 00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:47,840 Speaker 1: with sixteen million members, which could at least theoretically have 579 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:51,320 Speaker 1: a lot of power, But at the same time, Taft 580 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:55,200 Speaker 1: Hearty provisions meant that smaller unions had a lot less 581 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:59,120 Speaker 1: bargaining power, especially with the end of closed shops and 582 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:02,280 Speaker 1: the rise of right Now to work states. Taft Hartley 583 00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:06,520 Speaker 1: also definitely had a chilling effect on the CIO's efforts 584 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:10,240 Speaker 1: to unionize the South. Those efforts were already being hampered 585 00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:14,359 Speaker 1: by racism and discriminatory laws. There have also been other 586 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:17,719 Speaker 1: federal laws that have been passed since nineteen forty seven 587 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:21,400 Speaker 1: that have modified Taft Hartley in one way or another. 588 00:38:22,719 --> 00:38:26,239 Speaker 1: To return to the Oakland Strike, Latham Square went through 589 00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:29,400 Speaker 1: a three year renovation that was finished in twenty sixteen. 590 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:34,320 Speaker 1: The central Plaza area has six placards about the area's history, 591 00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:37,360 Speaker 1: and one of them is dedicated to the general strike. 592 00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:42,400 Speaker 1: Do you also have listener mail? I do have listener mail. First, 593 00:38:42,520 --> 00:38:46,799 Speaker 1: very quickly we heard from Colin who had requested the 594 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:51,400 Speaker 1: episode on the Great Epizootic of eighteen seventy two, and 595 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:54,280 Speaker 1: Colin said, no, it was not because of the current 596 00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:59,040 Speaker 1: Avian flu situation that we are all living through. Colin 597 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:02,960 Speaker 1: had just encountered the word epizootic somewhere and looked it 598 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:07,600 Speaker 1: up and stumbled across this eighteen seventy two epizootic. I 599 00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:09,800 Speaker 1: thought that would be a great show topic. I agree 600 00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:12,600 Speaker 1: that is a perfectly acceptable reason to come up with 601 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:16,719 Speaker 1: a show suggestion just randomly stumbling across a word one day. 602 00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:19,160 Speaker 2: That's how shows get selected half the time. 603 00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:24,879 Speaker 1: Yeah, I also have an email that I am going 604 00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:29,600 Speaker 1: to read from Patty. Patty's email is titled Hominy Love. 605 00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:33,520 Speaker 1: Patty wrote, Tracy and Holly, thank you for this week's 606 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:36,760 Speaker 1: episodes on pelagra. I had heard parts of the story before, 607 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:38,719 Speaker 1: but y'all talked about so much more that I did 608 00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:42,120 Speaker 1: not know. With last month's epizootic episode, I am loving 609 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:46,400 Speaker 1: all the medical history info. I grew up eating hominy 610 00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:49,040 Speaker 1: and thought everyone ate it too. My mom would also 611 00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:52,000 Speaker 1: make a dish with spinach and scrambled eggs that was 612 00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:56,040 Speaker 1: so good, just canned spinach, drained and cooked into scrambled eggs. 613 00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:58,880 Speaker 1: She said she grew up eating it with poke greens 614 00:39:58,920 --> 00:40:02,960 Speaker 1: instead of spinach, what she called poke salad. Now I 615 00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:04,880 Speaker 1: just need a pork chop to go on the side 616 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:08,600 Speaker 1: with my hominie and spinach ultimate comfort food. I've been 617 00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:11,400 Speaker 1: listening to your podcast since the beginning. I love the 618 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:16,120 Speaker 1: Halloween and holiday episodes, the unearthed and eponymous foods. Please 619 00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:19,160 Speaker 1: see the pet tags of my two cats, Rocco and Penny. 620 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:23,360 Speaker 1: Rocco half main coon, half grumpy old man, and Penny 621 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:26,200 Speaker 1: a classic orange. I have seen her lick soap and 622 00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:28,399 Speaker 1: eat plants that should be toxic to her. 623 00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:29,760 Speaker 2: She is fine. 624 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:33,680 Speaker 1: Wishing you both the best. You're both so amazing, Patty. 625 00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:36,680 Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Patty. Let's look at these kitty cats. 626 00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:42,960 Speaker 1: Penny Penny, Hello, Penny Penny is a very very uh, 627 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:48,279 Speaker 1: loungey looking orange cat with a face that's just sort 628 00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:52,200 Speaker 1: of like, yes, hello, I'm hanging out here in my 629 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:53,280 Speaker 1: lounging space. 630 00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:54,919 Speaker 2: I'm looking for some soap to eat. 631 00:40:56,920 --> 00:40:57,040 Speaker 1: Uh. 632 00:40:57,440 --> 00:40:57,720 Speaker 2: Wow. 633 00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:03,200 Speaker 1: Rocco is so fluffy and is stretched out on a 634 00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:09,279 Speaker 1: hardwood floor. Just I cannot, I cannot adequately describe how 635 00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:11,560 Speaker 1: fluffy this cat is. I used to have a cat 636 00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:14,080 Speaker 1: named Sestina, who I thought was very fluffy. This cat 637 00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:18,600 Speaker 1: is fluffier than Sestina. I can see where the half 638 00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:20,680 Speaker 1: main coon is coming in with the size of this 639 00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:21,520 Speaker 1: kitty cat. 640 00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:24,319 Speaker 2: And the fluff and the fluff. Yeah. 641 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:28,839 Speaker 1: So thank you so much, Patty. I am glad to 642 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:35,239 Speaker 1: hear about this. The hominie and just this recipe of 643 00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:38,919 Speaker 1: spinach and scrambled eggs. I think that sounds really good. 644 00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:45,040 Speaker 1: Poke salad its own cultural food. Also, I'm gonna need 645 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:48,719 Speaker 1: you to explain that one to me, which part I 646 00:41:48,719 --> 00:41:52,120 Speaker 1: don't know what poke salad is. So pokeweed is a plant. 647 00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:55,279 Speaker 1: It is a plant that people can forage. There is 648 00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:59,120 Speaker 1: a specific way that it needs to be prepared in 649 00:41:59,239 --> 00:42:02,719 Speaker 1: order to be eaten safely. So don't just go to 650 00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:05,600 Speaker 1: Google a picture of pokeweed and go chomp on some. 651 00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:09,200 Speaker 1: But it is a staple food and a lot of 652 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:13,480 Speaker 1: the places that it grows I've always associated it with, 653 00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:16,160 Speaker 1: like life in the South. I would there would be 654 00:42:16,280 --> 00:42:21,920 Speaker 1: poke weed growing all over the area around where my 655 00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:25,120 Speaker 1: parents lived when I grew up. The berries that it 656 00:42:25,160 --> 00:42:31,840 Speaker 1: grows very very recognizably distinctive to me. And there's a 657 00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:37,320 Speaker 1: whole process of like preparing it and washing it that 658 00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:40,879 Speaker 1: has to be done to make it safe to eat 659 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:44,400 Speaker 1: because of the toxic compounds that it just contains as 660 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:50,840 Speaker 1: it grows. So yeah, I like the idea of someone 661 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:55,040 Speaker 1: in place of that just using canned spinach. Frozen spinach 662 00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:58,919 Speaker 1: can also be a great addition to stuff. I have 663 00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:04,400 Speaker 1: some bagged spinach in my fridge right now that's gonna 664 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:08,400 Speaker 1: be cooked down tonight because it is no longer crisp 665 00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:11,880 Speaker 1: and green. We've reached We've reached the time that the 666 00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:14,520 Speaker 1: spinach must be eaten, and so it is going to 667 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:18,160 Speaker 1: go into something I'm making for dinner tonight. So thank 668 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:21,880 Speaker 1: you again, Patty for these pictures and an email about 669 00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:26,919 Speaker 1: hominie and poke salad and all of that. If you'd 670 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:28,600 Speaker 1: like to send us a note about this or any 671 00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:32,880 Speaker 1: other podcast or at history Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com, 672 00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:36,400 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to our show on iHeartRadio app 673 00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:44,480 Speaker 1: or wherever else you like to get your podcasts. Stuff 674 00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:47,320 Speaker 1: you missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 675 00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:52,279 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 676 00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:54,440 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.