The 1948 Boeing strike was an industrial dispute which lasted 20 weeks, from April 22 to September 13.
The Boeing Company was founded by William Edward Boeing in 1916, with the name Pacific Aero Products. In 1945 president of the company Philip G. Johnson died and William McPherson Allen took his place. In 1945, after World War II, the market for wartime planes dwindled. The president William McPherson Allen decided to temporarily shut down the activities and to lay off 25,000 workers. [1] To save the company, Allen announced that he was going to start making commercial planes.
In October 1946, Boeing declared that the contract between the company and the Union was up for renewal. Boeing and the Union reached an agreement to start negotiating the new contract starting January 1947. [2] Between January and April 1947 both parties met regularly three times a week to discuss the contract. During this time neither party was able to reach an agreement. In April the Union gave Secretary of Labor and to the National Labor Relations Board a notice for intention to strike. [2] After the intention was submitted the Union and Boeing tried to talk about the contract but “there remained unsettled questions of Seniority, Hours of Labor, and Wages.” [2] After filing to strike and receiving approval the members of the Union never did so. The Union then drafted a proposal that discussed the issues the employees were worried about which was seniority, hours of labor, and wages. The condition was that the proposal had to be accepted by Boeing on April 21, 1948, before noon otherwise the proposal would be void. If this happened Lodge 751 stated that they “reserve the right to take appropriate action including a work stoppage.” [2] Boeing rejected the offer on April 21, 1948. The next day the Union went on strike.
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Allen declared the strike illegal and proceeded to have multiple lawsuits over the fact. The result of the strike set back Boeing with their orders about 1.25 billion dollars. Boeing was then forced to hire about 50,000 to make for lost time and pushing out orders. Most of the orders were for the government making B-47s, B-50s, and C-97s. [14]
91 F. Supp. 596; 1950 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2782; 26 L.R.R.M. 2324; 18 Lab. Cas. (CCH) P65,845.
174 F.2d 988; 85 U.S. App. D.C. 116; 1949 U.S. App. LEXIS 3461; 24 L.R.R.M. 2101; 16 Lab. Cas. (CCH) P65,164.
188 F.2d 356; 1951 U.S. App. LEXIS 3518; 27 L.R.R.M. 2556; 19 Lab. Cas. (CCH) P66,258.
217 F.2d 369; 1954 U.S. App. LEXIS 3835; 34 L.R.R.M. 2821; 26 Lab. Cas. (CCH) P68,702. [15] [16] [17] [18]
Ingham, J. (1983). Biographical dictionary of American business leaders (Vol. 1, p. 2026). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Reese, H., "Taft-Hartley Act." Dictionary of American History. 2003, "Taft-Hartley Act." West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005, "Taft-Hartley Labor Act." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. 2014, & "Taft-Hartley Act." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. (2004). Taft-Hartley Act (1947).
Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 (Taft-Hartley Act of 1947) [19]
Yenne, B. (2005). The story of the Boeing Company (Rev. and updated ed.). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zenith ;
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