We found in our files several dozen photographs made during the department store strike of 1953-55. Most offer a grim documentation of a long, ugly and costly battle between organized labor and Pittsburgh’s five large department stores. One picture, however, hints at optimism, even happiness.
It was taken outside Gimbels on Smithfield Street on Dec. 17, 1953, when the strike was less than a month old. The picture is full of smiling faces and people mugging and waving at the camera. Christmas was just days away. Downtown was bustling with life. Shoppers mixed with striking workers carrying signs. Hundreds of people showed up just to watch.
About 250 picketers crowded the sidewalk. Sometime after the photographer clicked the shutter, police tried to clear a path for shoppers. Fifty-year-old Sylvia Miller objected to this effort. She was quickly hustled away in a patrol car, and that’s when things got dicey. Tempers flared, people shoved one another, punches flew. One picketer was knocked unconscious. The crowd jeered as police began making arrests. Whatever optimism and happiness was in the air that night quickly evaporated.
The strike began Nov. 27 when retail workers walked out to support Teamsters Local 249. The union was fighting an attempt by stores to cut delivery costs. Every driver at the time had the right to be accompanied by a helper, who assisted in lifting and carrying. Stores wanted to end the practice.
During the 64-week work stoppage — at the time the longest retail strike in American history — stores lost as much as $50 million in sales. Striking workers sacrificed an estimated $12 million in wages. Police arrested more than 100 people, including store and union officials, on charges that included arson, inciting to riot and kidnapping. Paint bombs were hurled at homes, truckloads of furniture were burned and display windows smashed. Because garbage collectors refused to cross picket lines, rubbish was piled on the roofs of the downtown stores.
Several leaders — including Mayor David L. Lawrence, the clergy and city council — stepped up to try to end the strike. All efforts failed. As the months dragged on, union solidarity began to dissolve. Some strikers snuck back to work. Wives crossed picket lines manned by their husbands.
It ended in February 1955. The union earned a small raise but gave up helpers. The department stores — Gimbels, Joseph Horne Co., Kaufmann’s, Frank & Seder and Rosenbaum’s — had won a battle but at a terrible cost. Managers wondered if they could regain lost business and lure customers back into their stores.
And the city? Many here felt Pittsburgh had been tarnished by a disagreement that could have been avoided.
“Before the strike,” The Pittsburgh Press wrote at the time, “Pittsburgh was the envy of the nation … Today, most of the glitter of the Golden Triangle has been rubbed off.”
