Minneapolis Teamsters Strike

Historical Overview

The eight-week Minneapolis Teamsters strike paralyzed the city's commercial distribution network and escalated into one of the most pivotal and violent labor confrontations in American history. Driven by militant union organizers of Local 574, the primary strategic objective of the workers was to secure union recognition, establish a closed shop, implement minimum wage standards, and break the absolute dominance of the anti-union employers' association (Citizens Alliance). Following fierce street battles, the deployment of the National Guard, and the infamous "Bloody Friday" police shooting that killed two strikers, the Roosevelt administration intervened. The workers' eventual victory shattered the open-shop stronghold in Minneapolis, transformed the city into a union bastion, and catalyzed the nationwide expansion of the Teamsters while shaping the passage of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935.