On November 7, 1959, the Supreme Court Backed an 80-Day Order That Sent Steelworkers Back to Work
The nationwide steel strike began July 15. It had shut CF&I plants in Pueblo. The record is clear on the court dates and less clear on how long the strike lasted.
On November 7, 1959, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a lower-court order that sent striking steelworkers back to the mills for up to 80 days. The strike had begun July 15, according to the Court's record, and it had closed all CF&I plants, including the Minnequa works in Pueblo.
This is a short account of what the opened sources establish. It is not a full history of the strike.
The court record
The Supreme Court opinion says the strike began July 15, 1959, fifteen days after the steel companies' contracts with the United Steelworkers expired. The President named a Board of Inquiry on October 9. The Board reported October 19. The Attorney General sued October 20, and a federal district court granted the injunction October 21.
An appeals court stayed the order. On October 30 the Supreme Court extended that stay. Then, in a per curiam opinion on November 7, it affirmed the lower court. Justice Douglas dissented. The full opinions are dated December 7, 1959.
The injunction was issued under the Taft-Hartley Act. By the terms of the law, the Court noted, an injunction may not continue longer than 80 days. The justices found the strike threatened national safety through its effect on defense projects.
What the Pueblo papers kept
The Steelworks Center of the West holds CF&I company records from the strike. Its finding aid lists folders titled “Strike-1959 Winterizing the Plant,” “Strike-1959 Start-Up Operations,” “1959 Resumption of Operations” and “Strike-1959 Stand-by Crews (All Locals).” Others hold state unemployment-compensation appeals from the strike period beginning July 15, 1959.
The guide gives titles and years only. It does not describe what is inside the folders.
How long did it last?
Sources do not agree. One Colorado Fuel and Iron history project says the strike lasted 114 days on one page and 116 days on its timeline. Wikipedia describes a 116-day strike running July 15 to November 7. Counting July 15 to November 7 on a calendar gives a figure close to the higher numbers, but the sources do not say how each count was made.
A Colorado Encyclopedia entry on the strike also gives a day count and a January 1960 settlement date for CF&I. We could not open that page, so we do not rely on it here.
What we don’t know yet
- The exact date Pueblo workers returned. The court date is November 7. The sources opened do not give a Minnequa-specific return date.
- When CF&I settled. Wikipedia’s settlement section points to early January 1960 but contains an apparent year error. The CF&I date has not been confirmed from an opened source.
- Local effects. No opened source gives Pueblo layoff or unemployment figures. Pueblo Chieftain coverage from fall 1959 would be the next place to look.
The same CF&I project lists another steel strike in 1997, with no detail.