Located in downtown Akron near the public library, this marker points out a relatively recent historical event.
The marker has the same text on both sides. It reads, "Five Depression-era strikes against many of Akron's rubber companies culminated in a giant "sit-down" strike against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the industry's leader, in February and March of 1936. The fledgling United Rubber Workers (URW), created in September 1935, used the tactic of being at work but not working that had been pioneered by rank-and-file workers in a successful 1934 strike against the General Tire and Rubber Company. After a peaceful month-long strike, the URW won recognition from Goodyear and reached a settlement on March 22. The 1936 Akron Rubber Strike was one of the earliest successes for the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO), sparking a wave of industrial organizing and similar strikes in 1936 and 1937. The "sit-down" strategy extended beyond the rubber industry and was instrumental in the founding of the industrial union movement in the United States."
This is marker 32-77 and it was erected in 2003 by The Ohio Bicentennial Commission, Tri-County Regional Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and The Ohio Historical Society.
There is metered street parking nearby.
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