1944 sickout strike
The Philadelphia transit strike of 1944 was a sickout strike by white transit workers in Philadelphia that lasted from August 1 to August 6, 1944.
The strike was triggered by the decision of the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC), made under prolonged pressure from the federal government in view of significant wartime labor shortages, to allow black employees of the PTC to hold non-menial jobs, such as motormen and conductors, that were previously reserved for white workers only. On August 1, 1944, the eight black employees being trained as streetcar motormen were due to make their first trial run. That caused the white PTC workers to start a massive sickout strike.
The strike paralyzed the public transport system in Philadelphia for several days, bringing the city to a standstill and crippling its war production. Although the Transport Workers Union (TWU) was in favor of allowing promotions of black workers to any positions they were qualified for, and opposed the strike, the union was unable to persuade the white PTC employees to return to work. On August 3, 1944, under the provisions of the Smith–Connally Act, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson to take control of the Philadelphia Transportation Company, and Major-General Philip Hayes was put in charge of its operations. After several days of unsuccessful negotiations with the strike leaders, Hayes issued an order that the striking workers return to work on August 7, 1944, and that those refusing to comply be fired, stripped of their military draft deferment, and denied job availability certificates by the War Manpower Commission for the duration of the war. This ultimatum proved effective and on August 7, the strike ended and the strikers returned to work. The black workers, whose pending promotions to non-menial jobs triggered the strike, were allowed to assume those jobs.
During the strike, despite considerable tensions, the city of Philadelphia remained mostly calm, and there were no major outbreaks of violence. All of the city's newspapers editorialized against the strike and the public was, by and large, opposed to the strike as well. Several of the strike leaders, including James McMenamin and Frank Carney, were arrested for violating the anti-strike act. The NAACP played an active role both in pressuring the PTC and the federal government to institute fair hiring practices at the PTC for several years before the strike and in maintaining the calm during the strike itself.
The strike received considerable attention in the national media. The Philadelphia transit strike of 1944 is one of the most high-profile instances of the federal government invoking the Smith–Connally Act. The Act had been passed in 1943 over President Roosevelt's veto.
Background.
PTC and the union.
Since even before the official entry of the United States into World War II in December 1941, Philadelphia had been one on the major industrial war production centers in the U.S. By 1944 Philadelphia was regarded as the second largest war production center in the country (after Los Angeles). During that period the black population of the city grew substantially, and tensions with the predominantly white population began to increase. The Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) ran the city's huge public transportation system, including subways, buses and trolleys; by the time of the strike, it carried over one million people per day. By 1944, the PTC's eleven thousand strong workforce included 537 black employees. However, the PTC's black workers had been restricted to holding menial jobs; none were allowed to serve as conductors or motormen – positions that were reserved for white employees. As early as August 1941, black employees started pressuring the PTC for fairer employment practices that would allow upgrading of black workers to the more prestigious jobs reserved for whites. Their efforts were rebuffed by PTC management, who claimed that the current union contract contained a clause prohibiting any significant change in employment practices and customs without the union's approval (although the contract said nothing about race). The leader of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Employees Union (PRTEU), Frank Carney, proved to be equally reticent and claimed that he was not authorized by the union members to consider a request to allow promotions of black employees.
Federal involvement.
The black PTC employees enlisted the help of the NAACP and started lobbying the federal authorities, particularly the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC), to intervene. The Fair Employment Practices Commission, created by an executive order of the President in 1941, was charged with ensuring non-discrimination employment practices by government contractors. Initially it was a fairly weak agency, but its authority was significantly strengthened in 1943 by a new executive order that required all government contracts to have a non-discrimination clause. As the war progressed, the manpower shortages were getting more severe. In January 1943 the PTC requested 100 white motormen from the United States Employment Service (USES), which was a part of the War Manpower Commission (WMC). The WMC, aware that PTC had a pool of black employees seeking upgrading, asked the PTC to allow hiring of black employees for the vacant motormen positions. The PTC refused, again citing the "customs clause" of its union contract. After a complaint from the NAACP, the matter landed at the FEPC, headed at the time by Malcolm Ross.
The FEPC made a series of unsuccessful attempts to convince the PTC management and the union leadership to change their stance and to allow promotions of black employees to non-menial jobs. The PTC eventually conceded that it would be willing to go along with the government's request and "employ Negroes, provided they are acceptable to fellow-workers", but the PRTEU leadership, particularly Frank Carney, staunchly resisted. On November 17, 1943, the FEPC issued a directive requiring that PTC end its discriminatory employment practices and allow blacks to hold non-menial jobs. The directive also required the PTC to review all job applications from June 1941 and redress earlier employment abuses based on racial discrimination. The union immediately protested and requested a public hearing, which took place on December 8, 1943. At the hearing the union tried to make the argument that hiring blacks who had applied for the non-menial positions since June 1941 but were denied would adversely affect the seniority rights of the presently employed white workers. Malcolm Ross rejected that argument, pointing out that the seniority rights only begin when an employee is actually hired for a particular job. On December 29, 1943, FEPC issued a second directive, reinforcing the first one.
In an attempt to deflect the pressure, Carney and PRTEU contacted Virginia congressman Howard W. Smith, who at the time was the Chair of the House Committee to Investigate Executive Agencies. Smith, known for his segregationist views and eager to embarrass and possibly destroy the FEPC, quickly scheduled a hearing. In the meantime, the union informed the PTC that it refused to comply with the FEPC order, and the PTC management told Ross that, given the union's position, the PTC would not comply with the FEPC directive either. The hearing in front of Smith's committee took place on January 11, 1944. The hearing was inconclusive, with Ross reiterating the FEPC position, and the union representatives falling back on the "customs clause" and their claims about seniority issues. Several white workers testifying at the hearing predicted that there would be trouble and unrest if promotions of black employees at the PTC were allowed: "We are not going to accept them [the blacks] as fellow workers. ... We are not going to work with them. If anybody believe it, let them try it". A petition, signed by 1776 workers, presented at the hearing, read: "Gentlemen: We, the white employees of the Philadelphia Transportation Co., refuse to work with Negroes as motormen, conductors, operators and station trainmen".
Inter-union struggle.
Following the January 11 congressional hearing, Malcolm Ross’s delay in enforcing the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) directive was not just a waiting game; it highlighted the complex landscape of labor relations and racial tensions within the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC). Between 1940 and 1945, Philadelphia saw a significant influx of Black residents, with nearly 36,000 new Black residents swelling the city’s Black population to almost 300,000. This rapid demographic shift heightened anxieties among white Philadelphians, particularly as Black workers pushed for better employment opportunities amidst labor shortages. The PTC, with a workforce of 11,000 employees, included only 537 Black employees, all relegated to menial roles such as cleaners, while white employees filled all operating positions, such as motormen and conductors, that came with greater status and visibility.
Despite early efforts by Black workers to advocate for promotions through channels like the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Employees Union (PRTEU), union leaders consistently cited a “customs clause” in their contracts to block any changes in employment practices. This clause, though not explicitly about race, allowed both the union and the company to maintain the status quo, effectively excluding Black employees from promotions. When the NAACP intervened, PTC management and PRTEU leadership continued to defer responsibility to each other, using the customs clause as justification for inaction.
The FEPC’s involvement marked a turning point. In response to PTC’s hiring of 100 new white motormen in early 1943, the War Manpower Commission urged the company to consider Black applicants, but PTC again cited the customs clause as grounds for refusal. With labor shortages growing critical, national attention on racial discrimination in wartime industries intensified, and the FEPC, bolstered by a partnership with the War Manpower Commission, began to push harder against PTC’s discriminatory policies.
Amid this escalating pressure, the March 1944 union election presented an opportunity for a shift in labor relations at PTC. The Transport Workers Union (TWU), a CIO affiliate, ran on a platform supporting the promotion of Black employees, contrasting sharply with the PRTEU’s racially exclusionary stance. Ultimately, the TWU won, securing more votes than both the PRTEU and the Amalgamated Association combined. However, despite this victory, resistance from white workers persisted, and the PTC continued to stall on implementing the FEPC’s directive. The ongoing contract negotiations between TWU and PTC became a prolonged struggle, emblematic of the deep-seated racial and labor tensions that still permeated Philadelphia’s transit system during the war.
Immediate run up to the strike.
In view of growing labor shortages, on July 1, 1944 the War Manpower Commission made an important decision, ruling that from then on all hiring of male employees in the country was to be done through the United States Employment Service (USES). By that time the USES followed strict anti-discrimination employment practices. The PTC management finally gave in and within a week posted notices about available skilled positions that would be open to all applicants, regardless of race. The company accepted eight black applicants (three from the USES and five from its own ranks) to train as streetcar coachmen. Their training was to take place in late July, and they were to start taking an empty streetcar on the lines from August 1. It was that impending trial run of the streetcars by the eight black trainees that finally triggered the strike.
As the news spread, resentment among the white PTC workers began to grow. There were postings on PTC bulletin boards urging non-compliance with the new policy, and a petition was circulated calling for a strike to protest job upgrades of black employees. There were also several meetings called by agitators for the strike to discuss the plan of action. Frank Carney played an active role in these meetings. At the last such meeting, on July 31, Carney announced that the "D-Day" for white workers had arrived. The TWU and the NAACP representatives warned the PTC about impending trouble, but the company management ignored those warnings, maintaining that there was nothing to fear.
Events of the strike.
Start of the strike.
At 4:00 a.m. on August 1, 1944 most trolleys, buses and subways in Philadelphia stopped running. Strike agitators blocked access to PTC depots with vehicles and advised the arriving workers of a sickout strike. By noon of August 1 the entire PTC transportation system was paralyzed.
James McMenamin, a veteran PTC white motorman, organized a 150-member strike steering committee and became one of the main leaders of the strike. Frank Carney, the ousted union boss, was another key strike leader. At the end of the day the strikers held a large meeting, attended by more than 3,500 employees, outside the PTC carbarn on Luzerne Street. The racial rhetoric was escalating.