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companies, that lasted for weeks, and that (momentarily at least) threatened to
spread throughout the Baltimore trucking industry. Transport was seriously
disrupted in southeast Baltimore, and the strike resulted in the intervention of
federal mediators. In February 1935, the Teamsters began what became, over the
next several years, a protracted war with the Diamond Cab Company; again federal
intervention loomed. During these struggles, Teamster Leader Harry Cohen
became a labor leader of note in the city. Unlike many BFL union leaders, he
proved himself to be willing to organize aggressively and to sanction strikes that
confronted the employers, scabs, and the police even at the risk of violence and
arrest.

The magnitude of strike and organizing activity during the NRA period in
Baltimore should not, though, be overstated. It was broad, but it was also scattered.
At no time did anything like a real strike wave appear possible. Moreover, strikes
in this period tended to be localized within sections of an industry or sectors of the
city. And, they were not, with a few exceptions, linked directly national campaigns
and initiatives (although they were undoubtedly inspired by national events, like the
San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Toledo strikes of 1934). These actions were,
again, stirrings, but portentous ones.

The fourth feature of trade unionism in Baltimore in the later-1933 to 1935
period requiring attention here has to do with the Baltimore Federation of Labor
itself. Organizationally-speaking, the BFL benefited greatly from workplace
activity during this period. However, the conservatism, the craft mentality, and the
lack of imagination of the BFL's leadership and dominant forces within the
federation meant that, at best, it was constantly tailing events. Repeatedly
criticized by Socialists and more militant unionists (and ridiculed by Communists)
for its failure to take advantage of the rising unrest in the working class, the BFL's
attempt at original initiatives were almost embarrassing.

In late 1933, with the great majority of the giant mass production industries