WCH Podcast E99-100: Vietnam war strike wave

By Working Class History
January 8th, 2025

With the background of the Vietnam war, rising prices and stagnant wages, workers in the US began to ignore calls to support the war effort and keep working, and instead launch a wave of wildcat strikes in key industries, while women homeworkers fought for lower prices. We tell the story of these struggles in this double podcast episode.

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This is an improved, re-edited version of our original episode 8. In conversation with Jeremy Brecher, author of the excellent book, Strike!, we learn about the support for the war from union officials, the responses from the rank-and-file, and lessons we can learn from them today.

In part 1, we look at the historical background, the positions of the official labour organisations, the growth of the 1960s counterculture, and strikes by mostly Black sanitation workers and bus drivers, and a national wildcat strike of coal miners.

Episodes

• E99: Vietnam war strike wave, part 1 – historical background, the positions of the official labour organisations, the growth of the 1960s counterculture, and strikes by mostly Black sanitation workers and bus drivers, and a national wildcat strike of coal miners.

More information

• Strike! – Jeremy Brecher: get hold of Jeremy’s book here in our online store, with global shipping.

Sources

• Jeremy Brecher, Strike! (PM Press, 2018).
• Hard hat riot, Working Class History. 2024. [accessed 2024 Dec 20]. https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10840/hard-hat-riot.
• Tet Offensive, Working Class History. 2024. [accessed 2024 Aug 28]. https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10281/Tet-Offensive.
• Memphis sanitation strike. Working Class History. 2024. [accessed 2024 Aug 29]. https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8387/Memphis-sanitation-strike.
• The Memphis sanitation strike, 1968. King Encyclopedia. 2018. [accessed 2024 Aug 29]. https://libcom.org/article/memphis-sanitation-strike-1968.
• Black Chicago bus drivers wildcat strike. Working Class History. 2024. [accessed 2024 Aug 29]. https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9984/black-chicago-bus-drivers-wildcat-strike.
• Chicago 1968. 2014. libcom.org. [accessed 2024 Aug 29]. https://libcom.org/article/chicago-1968.
• Jacob K. Friefeld. The Concerned Transit Workers strike of 1968 in Chicago. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. July 20, 2020. [accessed 2024 Aug 29]. https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/Blog/Posts/8/African-American-History/2020/7/When-Chicago-stood-still-the-CTW-strike-of-1968/blog-post/.
• Vince Guerreri. 2019 Dec 31. Fifty Years Ago, the Murder of Jock Yablonski Shocked the Labor Movement. Smithsonian Magazine. [accessed 2024 Aug 29]. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/fifty-years-ago-murder-jock-yablonski-changed-labor-movement-180973881/.
• 1970 Jun 23. Wildcat Strikes Cripple Coal Industry in 3 States. The New York Times. [accessed 2024 Aug 29]. https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/23/archives/wildcat-strikes-cripple-coal-industry-in-3-states.html.
• U.S. Inflation Rate by Year: 1929 to 2024. 2024. Investopedia. [accessed 2024 Aug 28]. https://www.investopedia.com/inflation-rate-by-year-7253832.
• Sam Lowry, 1970: US national postal strike. 2008. Libcom.org. [accessed 2024 Aug 28]. https://libcom.org/article/1970-us-national-postal-strike.
• Putnam J. 2019 Sep 17. Remembering the GM strike from 1970: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Lansing State Journal. [accessed 2024 Dec 13]. https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2019/09/17/remembering-1970-gm-strike-lastest-67-days/2344196001/.
• Bronx hospital strike. Working Class History. 2024. [accessed 2024 Dec 13]. https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/13174/new-york-hospital-strike.
• New York hospital strike. Working Class History. 2024. [accessed 2024 Dec 13]. https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/13175/new-york-hospital-strike.
• Will Lissner, “Consumers Rally for Meat Boycott,” New York Times, March 30, 1973, 1.
• 1973 Apr 9. INFLATION: Changing Farm Policy to Cut Food Prices. TIME. [accessed 2024 Dec 19]. https://time.com/archive/6837754/inflation-changing-farm-policy-to-cut-food-prices/.
• Robert D McFadden, “Boycott of Meat Ends with a Call for New Protests,” New York Times, April 8, 1973, 1.
• AH Raskin, Outrage – But Little Impact, New York Times, April 8, 1973, 237.
• ‌ The origins of the union shop – Tom Wetzel. libcom.org. [accessed 2024 Dec 20]. https://libcom.org/article/origins-union-shop-tom-wetzel.
• 2022 Jul 19. E67-68: The Grunwick strike. Working Class History podcast. [accessed 2024 Dec 20]. https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/grunwick-strike-1976/.

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda, Jeremy Cusimano, Nick Williams and Old Norm.
• Edited by Jesse French, with original editing by Emma Courtland.
• Episode graphic: Postal workers on wildcat strike, 1970. Courtesy APWUcommunications/Wikimedia Commons CC SA 3.0
• Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.