Memorial dedicated for 1934 Teamsters strike

The first marker to commemorate the historic 1934 Minneapolis Teamsters strikes was unveiled Saturday in the city’s Warehouse District.

A large crowd gathered for the ceremony at 701 N. Third St.

The strikes, in which four people were killed, successfully challenged the powerful anti-union business group known as the Citizens Alliance and opened up the city to more union organizing. The massive collective action that took place in Minneapolis, San Francisco, Toledo, Ohio; and other U.S. cities prompted Congress to pass the National Labor Relations Act, the major law guaranteeing workers the right to form unions and bargain contracts.

Keith Christensen, an award-winning professor of art and graphic design at St. Cloud State University, is the designer of the marker, erected at street level on the iconic 1913 Sherwin-Williams Paint Co. building. It was in front of this building on Bloody Friday that striker Henry Ness was shot and killed by Minneapolis police.

View more photos from the event on the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation’s Facebook page.