Strike Deadlock Sparks Labor Tensions in Detroit and LA

May 27, 1941, will go down in history as a day of industrial stalemate in the United States. At the Packard Motor Car Co. plant in Detroit, a prolonged coal deadlock loomed, accompanied by a strike threat that sent ripples of anxiety through the nation’s defense units. The company, with a whopping $109 million in national defense orders, was caught in the crosshairs of the United Automobile Workers (UAW), who demanded a blanket 10-cent hourly wage hike for all employees, along with a boost in the minimum rate from 50 to 75 cents an hour.