1920s

• Wobblies attracted 100,000 members by 1923.
• Union membership fell from 5 million to 3. Minimum wages for women abolished and national child labour laws overturned.
• Workers made to sign yellow dog contracts, which agreed to not join unions.
• Great Railroad Strike (1922)

  • Caused by the announcement that hourly pay of repair and maintenance workers would be cut to 7 cents (12% decrease)
  • 400,000 strikebreakers hired to fill vacant positions
  • A federal judge issued ‘Daughterly Injunction’ against striking, assembling, and picketing
  • Strike died out but tensions remained high