This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Governor of Massachusetts Calvin Coolidge inspects the militia during the Boston Police Boston roll of 1919.
Boston police officers went on strike on September 9, 1919. They sought recognition for their trade union and improvements in wages and working conditions. During the strike, Boston experienced several nights of lawlessness. Several thousand members of the Massachusetts State Guard, supported by volunteers, restored order by force. Nine were killed in several days of civil unrest and the threat of a general strike.
Eight of the nine were fatally shot by members of the State Guard. The police strike ended on September 13, when Commissioner Curtis announced the replacement of all striking workers with 1,500 new officers, given higher wages. The strike proved a setback for labor unions. The AFL discontinued its attempts to organize police officers for another two decades.
In 1895, the Massachusetts legislature transferred control of the Boston police department from Boston’s mayor to the governor of Massachusetts, whom it authorized to appoint a five-person board of commissioners to manage the department. In 1906, the legislature abolished that board and gave the governor the authority to name a single commissioner to a term of five years, subject to removal by the governor. Police officers had an extensive list of grievances. They worked ten-hour shifts and typically recorded weekly totals between 75 and 90 hours. They were not paid for time spent on court appearances. Boston’s police officers, acting with the sponsorship of the police department, had formed an association known as the Boston Social Club in 1906.
In 1917, a committee of police officers representing the Social Club met with Commissioner Stephen O’Meara to ask about a raise. He was sympathetic, but advised them to wait for a better time. The Boston police decided to organize under an AFL charter in order to gain support from other unions in their negotiations and any strike that might ensue. On August 9, 1919, the Boston Social Club requested a charter from the AFL. It is or should be apparent to any thinking person that the police department of this or any other city cannot fulfill its duty to the entire public if its members are subject to the direction of an organization existing outside the department. Some attribute the concern from Commissioner Curtis, which was shared by the chamber of commerce, to the fear that unionized police would align with workers and not continue to protect the interest of capitalists. On August 15, the police received their AFL charter.
Mayor Peters sought to play an intermediary role by appointing a Citizen’s Committee to review the dispute about union representation. He chose a well-known local reformer as its chair, James J. Storrow’s group recommended that Curtis and the police agree to a police union without AFL ties and without the right to strike. Curtis, with the backing of Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge, rejected the Storrow Commission’s proposal. He proceeded with department trials of the 19 and on September 8 found them guilty of union activity. Rather than dismiss them from the police force, he extended their suspensions. In anticipation of the strike, all of Boston’s newspapers called it “Bolshevistic,” pleaded with the police to reconsider and predicted dire consequences.
One also warned the police that their eventual defeat was guaranteed, that they would lose because “behind Boston in this skirmish with Bolshevism stands Massachusetts, and behind Massachusetts stands America. On September 9, Boston Police Department officers went on strike at 5:45 p. 10, the city witnessed an outbreak of hooliganism and looting. Some was rowdy behavior that scared respectable citizens, such as youths throwing rocks at streetcars and overturning the carts of street vendors. More overtly criminal activity included the smashing of store windows and looting their displays or setting off false fire alarms. Some had boarded up and others stayed open all night with armed guards visible to discourage thieves taking advantage of the strike.
Gamblers played dice in open view, and women had their handbags snatched. But the Guard’s inexperience at handling crowds resulted in dangerous attempts to assert control. Gunfire in South Boston left two dead and others wounded. The death total ultimately reached nine. Miss Margaret Walsh was wounded and died the next day. City life continued relatively normally, especially during daytime hours.
Those figures represent a non-partisan calculation of the costs of the strike to the Boston business community. When we were honorably discharged from the United States army, we were hailed as heroes and saviors of our country. We returned to our duties on the police force of Boston. Now, though only a few months have passed, we are denounced as deserters, as traitors to our city and violators of our oath of office. The first men to raise the cry were those who have always been opposed to giving to labor a living wage. It was taken up by the newspapers, who cared little for the real facts. You finally added your word of condemnation.