Retired Teamster Al Erickson, perhaps the last surviving participant of the landmark 1934 strike that made Minneapolis a union town, has died at age 99.
Erickson died in his sleep Jan. 31. Throughout his life, he never forgot the historic and violent struggle that broke the power of the anti-union Citizens Alliance and helped usher in a new era for the labor movement not only locally but also nationwide.
In 1934, Erickson was a 27-year old driver who joined in the picketing ? and street battles ? for fair wages and collective bargaining rights. He was a rank and file member whose name won't appear in the history books ? but it might have been otherwise.
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Strike veteran Al Erickson, just five days before he died at age 99. Photo courtesy of Diane Loeffler |
On July 20, 1934, when police opened fire on unarmed pickets, killing two and wounding 67, Erickson "just missed it by a few minutes," related his daughter, Lois Barker, who was four years old at the time of the 1934 strike. "He used to talk about the day the men got killed."
The Labor Review reported then that 100,000 people marched in the funeral of one of the fallen strikers, Henry Ness. Photos documented the massive crowds. The entire nation took notice.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt intervened to help settle the strike and the following year saw the enactment of the National Labor Relations Act, which recognized the right of private sector workers to form unions.
Erickson went on to spend his entire working life as a Teamsters member, working at several companies including UPS. "He believed in the union," Barker said.
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| Headlines in the Minneapolis Labor Review heralded the workers' final victory. |
"He was a good storyteller and we were good listeners," said his friend Diane Loeffler, Erickson's neighbor since 1978.
"I don't think he appreciated how much he had a part in history until he saw the documentary Labor's Turning Point with us a few years ago," Loeffler said. "He was really touched when the young people who were at the documentary stood up and gave him a standing ovation."
"He didn't feel he was a maker of history so much as a guy who lived through some tense and exciting times," she recalled.
Union to the end, Erickson was buried with his Teamsters' retiree pin.
Steve Share edits the Minneapolis Labor Review, the official publication of the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council. If you know of any surviving participants of the 1934 strike, please call Steve at 612-379-4725.
For more information
Visit the Labor Review digital archive, available at www.minneapolisunions.org
Visit the Minnesota Historical Society's section on the strike, www.mnhs.org
Excellent books on the strike include American City by Charles Rumford Walker, and A Union Against Unions: The Minneapolis Citizens Alliance and Its Fight Against Organized Labor by Bill Millikan.
Copies of Labor's Turning Point, the documentary about the 1934 Teamsters strike, may be ordered from the University of Minnesota Labor Education Service, 612-624-5020.
Share
Retired Teamster Al Erickson, perhaps the last surviving participant of the landmark 1934 strike that made Minneapolis a union town, has died at age 99.
Erickson died in his sleep Jan. 31. Throughout his life, he never forgot the historic and violent struggle that broke the power of the anti-union Citizens Alliance and helped usher in a new era for the labor movement not only locally but also nationwide.
In 1934, Erickson was a 27-year old driver who joined in the picketing ? and street battles ? for fair wages and collective bargaining rights. He was a rank and file member whose name won’t appear in the history books ? but it might have been otherwise.
|
|
Strike veteran Al Erickson, just five days before he died at age 99. Photo courtesy of Diane Loeffler |
On July 20, 1934, when police opened fire on unarmed pickets, killing two and wounding 67, Erickson “just missed it by a few minutes,” related his daughter, Lois Barker, who was four years old at the time of the 1934 strike. “He used to talk about the day the men got killed.”
The Labor Review reported then that 100,000 people marched in the funeral of one of the fallen strikers, Henry Ness. Photos documented the massive crowds. The entire nation took notice.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt intervened to help settle the strike and the following year saw the enactment of the National Labor Relations Act, which recognized the right of private sector workers to form unions.
Erickson went on to spend his entire working life as a Teamsters member, working at several companies including UPS. “He believed in the union,” Barker said.
|
| Headlines in the Minneapolis Labor Review heralded the workers’ final victory. |
“He was a good storyteller and we were good listeners,” said his friend Diane Loeffler, Erickson’s neighbor since 1978.
“I don’t think he appreciated how much he had a part in history until he saw the documentary Labor’s Turning Point with us a few years ago,” Loeffler said. “He was really touched when the young people who were at the documentary stood up and gave him a standing ovation.”
“He didn’t feel he was a maker of history so much as a guy who lived through some tense and exciting times,” she recalled.
Union to the end, Erickson was buried with his Teamsters’ retiree pin.
Steve Share edits the Minneapolis Labor Review, the official publication of the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council. If you know of any surviving participants of the 1934 strike, please call Steve at 612-379-4725.
For more information
Visit the Labor Review digital archive, available at www.minneapolisunions.org
Visit the Minnesota Historical Society’s section on the strike, www.mnhs.org
Excellent books on the strike include American City by Charles Rumford Walker, and A Union Against Unions: The Minneapolis Citizens Alliance and Its Fight Against Organized Labor by Bill Millikan.
Copies of Labor’s Turning Point, the documentary about the 1934 Teamsters strike, may be ordered from the University of Minnesota Labor Education Service, 612-624-5020.