Jim Memmott

Imagine this in Rochester:

Hundreds of workers fired for forming a union.

Hundreds of people (and at least one dog) jailed for protesting the firing.

Imagine, too, thousands of people taking part in a general strike on behalf of the fired workers.

Though all of this would seem to contradict Rochester’s self image as a peaceful, harmonious place, it did happen here in the last two weeks of May 1946.

Yes, this month marks the 70th anniversary of a general strike in Rochester, an extraordinary, though perhaps not well-remembered, chapter in the city’s history.

Jonathan Garlock, a labor historian, offers a detailed account of the general strike that can be found online at RochesterLabor.org.

He begins by noting that 489 Rochester municipal workers were notified on May 15, 1946, that they had been fired. Their offense, Garlock notes, was forming a union.

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Thus began the battle that would pit city officials on one side against organized labor on the other as more and more unions walked out in solidarity with the municipal workers.

During the two weeks of demonstrations, some small, some large, hundreds of picketers in support of the workers were arrested, the largest mass arrests in the city’s history. They were usually booked on charges of disorderly conduct.

Photos taken by Harold Lara on behalf of the Rochester Central Trades and Union Council also show that at least one dog was swept up in the arrests. There he is with his owner behind bars.

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As many as 50,000 workers took part in a one-day general strike on May 28, 1946, including an estimated 13,000 in Rochester’s then-thriving clothing industry. In addition, taxis didn’t run; movie theaters went dark; uncollected trash piled up in the streets.

As discussions continued, there was at least one premature headline that the strike had been settled thanks to the intervention of then New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey. (“This would not be the last headline mistakenly attributing victor to the governor,” Garlock notes, evoking images of the Chicago Daily Tribune headline awarding the presidency to Dewey when Harry Truman was the real winner. )

But a real agreement was reached on May 29, 1946.

The terms of the settlement were generally favorable to the workers, as they got their jobs back and were allowed the right to unionize. In addition, charges against demonstrators were dropped.

Garlock writes that Rochester was just one of many cities throughout the country that experienced strikes after World War II.

One reason for the labor unrest, he notes, may have been a drop in earnings from the higher wages paid during the war. In addition, the wartime no-strike pledges made by unions no longer applied in peacetime.

The settlement of the strike in Rochester did not guarantee harmonious labor relations, but the right to unionize had been vindicated, thanks to the efforts of thousands of people and, of course, the loyal support of at least one dog.

On Remarkable Rochester

Retired Senior Editor Jim Memmott reflects on what makes Rochester distinctively Rochester, its history, its habits, its people. Contact him at: (585) 278-8012 or jmemmott@DemocratandChronicle.com or Remarkable Rochester, Box 274, Geneseo, NY, 14454.

Remarkable Rochesterians

Let’s add the name of this veteran broadcaster to our list of Remarkable Rochesterians :

Don Alhart (1944 – ): After his graduation from Ithaca College in 1966, he came to work full time as a reporter for what was then WOKR-TV (Channel 13). He has anchored or co-anchored the evening news at the station, now 13WHAM ABC, for more than 40 years. A member of the New York State Broadcasters Hall of Fame, he is a five-time recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in television news, and he has volunteered for and been honored by a variety of community organizations, including the Rochester Rotary Club, which he joined in 1976.