13 October 1948: Ruppert brewery strike

On this day, 13 October 1948, 181 drivers at the Ruppert brewery in Manhattan went on wildcat strike in support of 21 drivers who had failed to keep up with excessively quick delivery schedules. Their union, the United Brewery Workers, had sanctioned the sackings and did not approve the walkout. Bosses claimed the following morning that everything was back to normal, but had to admit by the end of the day that workers had ignored the union's call to return to work and the strike had spread to 10 other breweries and that 2,687 workers were out. Soon, 3,500 were on strike and New York's local beer supply was paralysed. They quickly won reinstatement for the drivers, but kept up their stoppage, demanding the scrapping of the schedules. The union tried to force its members back to work, and the employers sued the union and brought in police to safeguard the supply of out-of-state beer, but the workers held out for just under a month until all breweries in the city caved in.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8525/ruppert-brewery-wildcat-strike

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