Creating a steel workers union in the Calumet region, 1933 to 1945

This dissertation explores why and how the steel workers became unionized in the Chicago-Gary area during the years 1933 to 1945. It discusses why and how workers formed unions in the early 1930s and how the different kinds of unions contended for support among steelworkers. It discusses how the Steel Workers Organizing Committee was formed in 1936 and became the predominant union. Finally, it discusses how the SWOC became the United Steelworkers of America and how that union evolved during World War Two and the immediate post-war years.In particular the dissertation considers why and how the union came to be dominated in an autocratic fashion by its top officers. It looks at the behavior of steelworkers and local unions to determine if they created the need or the demand for such developments. The effects of outside political and economic pressures on the local unions are also considered.