Hershey-3 (CHOCOLATE WORKERS STRIKE)
N 40° 17.077 W 076° 38.954
18T E 359804 N 4460652
April 2, 1937 -- The first sit down strike in Pennsylvania was at the Hershey chocolate factory.
Waymark Code: WM6EP
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 01/23/2006
Views: 98
April 2, 1937 -- The first sit down strike in Pennsylvania was at the Hershey chocolate factory.
Hershey was not immune to the labor unrest that was spreading through the country in the late 1930's. On April 2, 1937, disgruntled workers staged a sit down strike in the factory on Chocolate Ave. Over the next several days, loyal workers and farmers (who had nowhere to sell their milk) staged loayalty parades. On April 6, loyal workers and farmers armed with clubs, baseball bats, pipes and other weapons stormed the plant. Government intervention and mediation brought the situation under control.
On April 12, Hershey Chocolate Corporation signed an agreement with both the United Chocolate Workers of America (affiliated with the CIO) and the Independent Workers of Hershey (affiliated with the company loyalists) granting neither union exclusive bargaining rights, but protecting each from discrimination.
In 1939, the Bakery and Confectionery Workers Local 464 (AFL) won recognition to represent the workers at Hershey's factory. This marker stands in front of the current union home.
(This is the third of eight markers in Hershey.)
Marker Name: Chocolate Workers Sit-down Strike
County: Dauphin
Date Dedicated: 09/10/2005
Marker Type: Roadside
Location: Cocoa Ave. near Caracas Ave, Hershey
Category: Business & Industry, Labor
Website: Not listed
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