The Importance Of Sit-Down Strikes

Furthermore, the growth of unions increased by about 20 percent from 1933 to 1945 because there were new and different strategies such as sit-down strikes for workers driven by their need for respect. Instead of using the standard strike of standing outside and chanting, workers had come up with different forms of techniques that caught the attention of people, not in unions. The success of these new strategies is very helpful in creating new and improved unions. For instance, craft unions who had total control because they were skilled “could stop production by merely withdrawing their labor” (Burns 29). Workers were more successful collectively than individually. One voice usually does not make a difference, especially if workers are in
Without their workers, the employers would waste “a good day’s work” and money because they are missing employees. One unique strategy that became popular in the 30s and 40s was the sit-down strike. The sit-down strike allowed workers to have an advantage since “the employer cannot continue production since the workers occupy the plant; holding a plant is strategically easier than trying to defend dispersed picket lines and having workers concentrated in one location helps maintain morale and unity among strikers” (Burns 34). The employees using sit-down strikes allowed them to easily fight without interference. Since workers were in the factory any one person that enters can easily be kicked out. This was not the case for the picket lines which were easy to break up with gas or fire
The workers faced many challenges during each time period, but they came to the conclusion during the Great Depression that they had to fight. The spike in unions went up by about 20 percent from 1933 to 1945 because workers no longer had anything to lose, they were; unemployed, hungry, homeless and angered by the lack of respect. Workers also joined unions because of President Franklin D. Roosevelt who showed his support for employees with the Wagner Act. President Roosevelt passing this law granted workers the right to organize in successful strikes without limitations. Additionally, the different forms of strikes allowed others to see that there were many strategies. Inevitably, the surge of workers in unions gave the workers power that would allow them to accomplish their goals. The workers today have faced fewer struggles as the workers during the Great Depression and World War II. There are about 6.7 percent unions as of 2013 this could be due to workers having all that they are seeking. Although there are still employers mistreating their workers such as in sweatshops, their voice gets lost because others could not relate to