Unionization was one of the main struggles for workers in the early 20th century.  Workers throughout various manufacturing and skilled labor industries realized their jobs needed to be protected by unions, but employers resisted the practice.  The emergence of the auto industry in the 1900s created a whole new group of potential unions that had previously not existed.  One of the leading union organizers, the American Federation of Labor began to focus on the unionization of the auto industry in the 1930s.

On this day, April 12th, in 1934, the Toledo Auto-Lite strike began.  The strike was led by a federal labor union of the American Federation of Labor and began because the Electric Auto-Lite company refused to sign a previously agreed upon contract that raised wages for employees.  The strike lasted from April 12 to June 2 and climaxed with the “Battle of Toledo” in May, when 6,000 strikers clashed with more than 1,000 members of the Ohio National Guard. After tense negotiations and government intervention, the strike finally ended on June 2 and was followed by the rehiring of all striking workers and a victory rally on June 9.

The victory by workers in the Auto-Lite strike had a great effect on unions in the Toledo area.  Soon after the Auto-Lite strike, auto workers successfully unionized Chevrolet.  To this day, Toledo is one of the most unionized cities in the United States.