Today in Labor History Apr 5 Workers struck the Kohler Company the longest labor dispute on record

[Omaha Steve]

April 5


April 5, 1954 - Workers struck the Kohler Company near Sheboygan, Wisconsin, during what many historians regard as the longest labor dispute on record. The walkout was part of 30 years’ of industrial strife at the company that included two strikes, one lasting from 1934 to 1941 and the other from 1954 to 1960. The dispute was finally settled in December 1965 when the company agreed to pay $4.5 million in back wages and pension credits for committing numerous unfair labor practices. The village of Kohler was a one-industry, “company town” where the decades-long conflict took on a personal as well as political tone.

For more information on the strike that began in 1934, see this account on the Wisconsin Historical Society website, http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1529

For an overview of the strike and curriculum materials, see http://www.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/students/2008/08sjflei/Living_Histories/tc.htm See also the book, Kohler on Strike: Thirty Years of Conflict by Walter H. Uphoff, Beacon Press, 1967.


Columnist Victor Riesel, a crusader against labor racketeers, was blinded in New York City when a hired assailant threw sulfuric acid in his face - 1956

14,000 teachers strike Hawaii schools, colleges - 2001

Labor history found here: http://www.unionist.com/today-in-labor-history & here: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_04_05_2010