Akron rubber strike of 1936
The Akron rubber strike of 1936 was a strike by workers against the rubber factory workers in Akron, Ohio.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, factory workers including those who worked for all three major tire and rubber makers in Akron faced poor working conditions, low wages, and close to no benefits. These conditions resulted in workers establishing the United Rubber Workers in 1935, who organized the first major strike in the Akron rubber industry. The workers resorted to using long picket lines and sit-down strikes, which prevented the companies from hiring scab workers that would interfere with getting their demands met. Factory management was reluctant to use physical force because of the possibility of damage to plant property. The then Akron mayor, Lee D. Schroy, attempted use police force to put an end to the strike, but officers refused to do so when they confronted the thousands of organized workers. The strike was successful in getting Goodyear to negotiate better contracts for the worker with the United Rubber Workers.[1]