On May 26, 1937, at approximately 2:00 p.m., Ford Motor Company orchestrates a brutal assault on United Auto Workers organizers conducting a permitted leaflet distribution campaign at the Miller Road pedestrian overpass above Gate 4 of the massive River Rouge Plant complex in Dearborn, Michigan. UAW …
Ford Motor CompanyHarry BennettFord Service DepartmentUnited Auto WorkersWalter Reuther+3 morelabor-rightscorporate-violenceuawfordunion-busting+2 more
The Senate Subcommittee on Education and Labor, chaired by Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr. of Wisconsin, begins hearings on June 6, 1936, launching a four-year investigation that systematically exposes the violent and illegal tactics American corporations use to suppress union organizing. The La …
Robert La Follette Jr.U.S. SenatePinkerton Detective AgencyBurns Detective AgencyRepublic Steel+3 morelabor-rightscorporate-surveillanceunion-bustingcongressional-investigationprivate-security
The La Follette Civil Liberties Committee subpoenas records from major private detective agencies in early 1936, exposing the vast scale of corporate labor espionage in American industry. The investigation reveals that the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, Burns International Detective Agency, …
La Follette CommitteePinkerton Detective AgencyBurns Detective AgencyCorporations Service BureauRailway Audit and Inspection Company+2 morelabor-surveillancecorporate-espionageunion-infiltrationprivate-securitylabor-rights
Three hundred Pinkerton Detective Agency agents attempt to forcibly seize Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead steel mill in Pennsylvania, triggering a 14-hour armed battle with locked-out steelworkers that leaves seven workers and three Pinkertons dead, with dozens more wounded. The violent …
Andrew CarnegieHenry Clay FrickPinkerton Detective AgencyAmalgamated Association of Iron and Steel WorkersPennsylvania National Guard+1 morelabor-suppressiongilded-agehomestead-strikeprivate-securitycorporate-violence+1 more
The Pinkerton National Detective Agency operates throughout the Gilded Age as a private corporate army deployed against labor organizing, providing armed guards, infiltration agents, and strikebreaking services to employers seeking to crush unions through surveillance, espionage, and violence. …
Pinkerton National Detective AgencyAllan PinkertonCorporate employersState governmentsLabor unionsgilded-agelabor-suppressionprivate-securitycorporate-violenceunion-busting+1 more