Today in Labor History April 12, 1934: The Toledo (Ohio) Auto-Lite General Strike began on this day. Initially, 6,000 workers struck for union recognition and higher pay. In late May, police beat an elderly picketer, infuriating the crowd, which began hurling stones, bricks and bottles at the cops. When the police had the fire department try to hose down the crowd, they seized the firehose and turned it back on the police. The cops fled inside the company gates and began firing so much tear gas and vomit gas (DM gas) that they were unable to enter the riot zone and make any arrests. Strikers continued hurling projectiles, overturning cars, setting them on fire. They used car tire inner tubes as giant slingshots to launch bricks into the company grounds. Later, the strikers busted through police lines and entered company grounds, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the police. The next day, 1,300 Ohio National Guard arrived, leading to a five-day running battle between them and roughly 10,000 strikers. During the Battle of Toledo, the militia fired on workers. They shot tear gas, which the workers threw back at them. They attacked with bayonets and the workers retaliated with bricks, injuring several soldiers. Two strikers were killed and over 200 injured. The strike lasted for two months and resulted in a win for the union. It was one of the most important labor struggles of the 20th century. During that same spring, there were also General Strikes in San Francisco and Minneapolis.
The strike was led by the American Workers Party (AWP), a short-lived Marxist party that lasted from December 1933 through December 1934. The AWP also organized the unemployed, who were plentiful during the Great Depression, so that they would not scab on the striking workers. The AWP ringed the Auto-Lite plant with picketing workers to prevent strikebreakers from entering. Auto-Lite won a court injunction limiting where they could picket, opening up gaps through which they could get scabs inside. The AWP then instructed members to violate the injunction, leading to repeated mass arrests. Strikers and supporters packed the courtrooms, singing and generally disrupting the trials, leading to the release of all members. In 1934, the AWP merged with the Communist League of America to form the Workers Party of the U.S.
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