Labor Crisis

Serious strikes in several heavy industries, hampering production of consumer goods, embarrassed the admittedly pro-labor administration. A political-economic crisis occurred in May of 1946, when a railroad brotherhood strike threatened to tie up national transportation. Union leaders agreed to a settlement just as Truman asked Congress for a law to draft into the armed services anyone refusing to work in industries taken over by the government.

Another significant labor event of 1946 was the government's injunction to prevent a coal strike. John L. Lewis, head of the United Mine Workers of America, ignored the injunction. A federal court assessed Lewis and his union fines totaling more than $3,000,000.

Domestic problems, however, dwindled into insignificance as Truman tried to tackle the Russian problem. In July 1945, he had met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin of the U.S.S.R. at Potsdam, Germany, for a discussion of postwar problems. Prospects for mutual understanding seemed favorable at the time, but the amity did not last.

Next: Truman Doctrine

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