The Great Furniture Strike of 1911

The Great Furniture Strike of 1911. . , When the furniture factory whistles blew on April 19, 1911, more than 6,000 cabinet workers, wood carvers, varnishers, upholsterers and less skilled workers doffed their work aprons, laid down their tools and walked away from their work benches in 59 Grand Rapids plants, beginning a four-month strike that divided the city and permanently changed it. , , Predominantly immigrants, or the children of immigrants, from the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Germany, Sweden and other European countries, the workers felt they had been pushed to strike by the repeated refusal of the Grand Rapids Furniture Manufacturers Association (FMA) to address their demands for higher pay, shorter hours, better working conditions and an end to piece work. With financial assistance and encouragement from national unions of carpenters, painters, woodcarvers and upholsterers, they remained on strike despite an injunction limiting them to two pickets at each factory, strike pay of $5 per week and strikebreakers imported by company owners, who believed economic need would bring their striking employees back. , , Remarkably, despite the intense feelings it generated, the strike involved very little violence, as strike leaders urged restraint and Mayor George Ellis deputized workers to police their own ranks. There were no deaths, few arrests and, aside from broken factory windows and a few cracked heads, little physical damage. , , The strike persisted through the hot 1911 summer with little movement on either side. But by early August, the national unions had nearly run out of funds and notified workers that their strike pay would be severely reduced. At about the same time, Christian Reformed Church leaders issued an edict forbidding their members to belong to unions. One by one, and then in small groups, the workers began returning to their jobs. On August 19, the remaining strikers voted to end the walkout. , , The strike took a toll on workers and company owners, and no one wanted to repeat the experience. Once their employees returned to work, most owners increased pay and reduced hours while workers shelved their efforts to unionize the industry. Equally important, furniture company owners and their allies, remembering the support given the strikers by Mayor Ellis, led a successful effort to adopt a new city charter that weakened the mayor's power by establishing a city manager form of government that remains in effect today. , , A gift to the City of Grand Rapids from the Labor Heritage Society of West Michigan on April 19, 2007. , , Image caption: Furniture Strikers on Parade