Episode 7: War

Organize the Unorganized: The Rise of the CIO

The early period of the CIO could be said to have ended with the Little Steel strike in 1937, when the limits of the New Deal order were dramatically illustrated in the brutal repression and failure of the strike. But the CIO continued to grow through the 40s, and it was the war escalation that provided the context for it to do so. This episode will be devoted to the CIO's role in and relation to the war effort, and what it meant for this labor upsurge. Guests in order of appearance: Melvyn Dubofsky, Professor Emeritus of History and Sociology at Binghamton University; Nelson Lichtenstein, Professor of History at UC-Santa Barbara; Rick Halpern, Professor of American Studies at the University of Toronto; Erik Loomis, Professor of History at the University of Rhode Island; Ruth Milkman, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center; Dorothy Sue Cobble, Professor Emerita of History and Labor Studies at Rutgers University; Steve Fraser, Labor Historian; James Young, Professor Emeritus of History at Edinboro University; Daniel Nelson, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Akron; Bryan Palmer, Professor Emeritus of History at Trent University Clips in order of appearance: “Bill Strength Congress of Industrial Organizations Program,” Part 12 - “The People Speak” (1524A/28), in “Textile Workers Union of America Records, 1915-1994,” Wisconsin Historical Society, https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=uw-whs-us00129a (12:05); “US Steel Strike Ends,” British Movietone, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rv4kGUc53c (29:08) Quotes in order of appearance: Art Preis, Labor’s Giant Step (New York: Pathfinder, 2022), pp. 155-156 (16:35); Zieger, The CIO: 195-1955 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995), pp. 212-213 (29:44) Songs in order of appearance: The Union Boys, “UAW-CIO,” Songs for Victory: Music for Political Action, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X48V9OCUkU (15:42); The Almanac Singers, “Boomtown Bill,” Keep That Oil A Rollin’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xLQjGUi_c8 (19:58); Josh White, “We’ve Got a Plan,” Power to the People!: Protest Songs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwh7y1l0L5g (26: 14) Theme music by Drake Tyler. Quote music is Martin Tallstrom’s cover of “Freight Train,” used here with permission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9LEUMgBkX8.