1952 Steel Strike - Strike

Strike

The Supreme Court's ruling came at noon, and the government returned the mills to their owners that afternoon. The Steelworkers went on strike at few hours later. The companies struck included Armco Steel, Bethlehem Steel, Great Lakes Steel Corporation, Inland Steel, Jones and Laughlin Steel, Republic Steel, Sharon Steel, U.S. Steel, Wheeling Steel and Youngstown Sheet and Tube, as well as numerous small manufacturers.

The evening of June 2, Truman called a meeting of his top advisors to discuss what to do. Attending the meeting were Attorney-General James P. McGranery, who had been confirmed by the Senate on May 20; Solicitor General Philip Perlman; Secretary of Defense Robert A. Lovett; White House Counsel Charles S. Murphy; Press Secretary Joseph Short; Steelman and Sawyer. The group discussed invoking Taft-Hartley, but felt that the union would resent it and that the law would do little to end the strike.

Truman convened a second meeting the next morning. Several other advisors were also present, in addition to the initial group: Former White House Counsels and close Truman confidantes Sam Rosenman and Clark Clifford; Secretary of Labor Maurice J. Tobin; and National Production Authority director Henry H. Fowler. The group considered but rejected use of Taft-Hartley and asking Congress for legislation to end the strike, but both courses of action were rejected. Instead, the group decided to sponsor additional talks.

New collective bargaining talks opened in Pittsburgh on June 5. The talks were productive, but foundered on the issue of the union shop.

The economic impact of the strike began to be felt immediately. Layoffs in a number of steel-dependent industries occurred just two days after the strike began. National defense mobilization authorities began denying manufacturers of consumer goods steel four days after the strike started, and banned the export of steel on June 10. By June 17, defense plants producing the M47 Patton tank, the M41 Walker Bulldog tank, trucks, bazooka rockets and mortar shells had all shut down or were running half- or quarter-shifts. By June 21, consumer inventories of steel were almost gone, forcing manufacturing shut-downs in the auto industry. As the Independence Day holiday neared, most inventories of steel were gone even from defense stockpiles.