1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike

1930's labor unrest was hardly limited to central and southern Illinois. It was a national phenomenon.

Here is a Pathe newsreel from the excellent Internet Archive on the 1934 San Francisco Maritime Strike.

The newsreel shows another all too common example the use of the state militia to protect the interests of the business class.

The wave of strikes heightened the crisis of the Great Depression and drew attention to the plight of workers. The social programs of Roosevelt's New Deal came in part to quell those expressions of union militancy and prevent more drastic changes from occurring.

There is little doubt that without that pressure from the labor movement, the New Deal would have provided far less for the average citizen.