BITTER CONFLICT: The 1922 Railroad Shopmen's Strike.

The article focuses on the railroad shopmen's strike which started on July 01, 1922 in the U.S. About 400,000 railroad workers were engaged in this national strike action which directly threatened the country's economic and social lifeline. The importance of the strike for the American labor movement was just as significant. The conflict marked the end of an era of industrial union strength. Author David Montgomery in his book "The Fall of the House of Labor" argued that the strike helped propel the shopcrafts into accepting management inspired cooperative schemes. As with other strikes in the period 1920-1922, the shape of this strike was molded by employer attacks epitomized by the American Plan. The 1922 railroad strike was symbolic of the new form of conflict. Above all, it was a struggle that pitted a leading industrial sector against a solidly organized labor force. The shopmen were determined not to allow the strength gained during the war years to slip away. During the government's wartime operation of the nation's railroads, the shopcrafts obtained full trade union rights and a corresponding increase in power. The strength of the shopmen was confirmed by their organization. The railroad shopmen were comprised of six distinct crafts: machinists, boilermakers, black-smiths, carmen, electricians and sheet-metal workers.