Mike's Strike

Late in 1933 a powerful, cantankerous Chicago unionist named Michael J. ("Umbrella Mike") Boyle took umbrage at the management of the swank Edgewater Beach Hotel. Some said (and Mike Boyle denied) that the hotel had refused to let him live there; others, that a dispute over recognition of his electrical union got his dander up. Tough "Umbrella Mike"*knows much about the dark & bloody side of Chicago unionism, twice went to jail (for contempt of court, conspiracy to restrain trade). He was also tough enough to call out Edgewater Beach electricians, declare a strike. Allied with the electricians were waiters, cooks, busboys, et al., who joined Mike Boyle's picket line on April 19, 1934.

Four hours a day, six days a week thereafter, paid pickets patrolled the Edgewater Beach. The hotel continued to do business, A. F. of L. musicians continued to play inside. Strikers forgot what the strike was about, their unions spent $300,000 in picket wages. As suddenly and mysteriously as it began, the long strike ended last week at terms "satisfactory to all concerned." The terms (according to Edgewater Beach Manager William Dewey): no recognition, no rehiring, no more pay, nothing for the strikers except a good rest.

*So called because he used to carry an umbrella rain or shine, hang it on the bar rail in Johnson's saloon, and stand innocently by while contractors dropped tribute into the folds.

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