MEASURES OF SILENT PROTEST 
Women in the cigar industry often faced orders to roll premium cigars, which required more time and more skill. However, management only compensated for the price of standard cigars. So, workers were making less money in the production of a more expensive product that cost them valuable time. For example,  John Jackowski, a 20th century Detroit resident with an aunt in the cigar industry, explains:

 

 

 

“And one thing that they objected to is the owners would ask the ladies to make fancy cigars. But they only paid them the price for production cigars. Another words, cheap cigars and these had to have a certain leaf, leaf was thinner and harder to work with and they [cigar industry management] didn’t want to pay them any more. That was the first union problems they had.” 

Before the women organized strikes against the factories, they engaged in other forms of silent protest.  Jackowski says, 
“…those ladies that worked in the cigar factory, they had friends, men friends, husbands, relatives. They used to sneak out cigars in their bosoms in the you know--generously endowed so they took about a dozen cigars.”

Another method he describes: "So when they didn’t want to make these cigars, the women there, well they had always, you know, somebody’s a troublemaker. My aunt was a troublemaker. So they’re making the cigars, they took pubic hair and put it in, between the cigars. Unbeknownst." (9.)

I was not able to recover any documentation of disciplinary action taken against women who participated in these acts. Therefore, it is POSSIBLE that tobacco management never became privy to these silent methods of rebellion. Types of worker protest such as this was only the beginning to a period of women’s labor activism in Detroit, spurred by the unfair labor practices of the city’s chain of cigar factories. 
 
AN ORGANIZED STRIKE
Lacking a union, with no means to negotiate wages, the women had attempted to ask management for a 10% raise. But their concerns were never addressed. Five days after a successful General Motors plant occupation in Flint, MI, women of the Websten-Eisenlohr cigar company put a plan in motion. This strike was a part of a string of labor activism that began diffusing at quick rates during the early 20th century throughout industrial cities. Goals of the cigar strike included union recognition, a protest of working conditions, and demands for higher and fair wages. Leaders of the strike put up a notice on the bulletin board in Polish announcing the protest, and on February 16, 1937, the women laborers conducted a sit-in.

REACTIONS TO THE STRIKE
Workers.org reports, "In a matter of days the five other cigar companies — Mazer-Cressman, Essex Cigar, Bernard Schwartz, Tegge-Jackson and General Cigar — were also occupied. The women garnered widespread support from the UAW and other Detroit-area unions, as well as local businesses that provided bread, sausage and other food items."
These women had caught the attention of the media and the community, who were supportive of their efforts. The combined strikers from the different cigar companies held a mass meeting at the Dom Polski hall and coordinated a march that would involve all six factories. The Dom Polski was a cultural and organizational center for Poles in the city, traditionally dominated by men, so it is significant to note that these women were able to occupy this space for their own labor and economic agendas. In fact, during the strike, husbands, fathers, brothers and sons all found themselves taking on tasks that were usually a woman's responsibility, like child care, housework, and gaining support outside the plants.

 

 

RESULTS
Early corporate succumbers were Mazer-Cressman and Essex, who agreed to the women's demands in early March. But the strikes against the remaining four factories continued into the of March, including the Bernard Schwartz Factory, and Mayor Frank Couzens ordered a breakup. Police force was employed against the women, with notable violence. Policemen dragged women out of the factories and injured a few. Walter Kaperzinski, a man who lived in the Chene Street neighborhood at the time, describes the police reaction to the strike and his resulting concerns (10.):

 

 

 

 

 

This enforcement was similar to the experience of the Flint occupations that occurred before the cigar strike, and illustrate a pattern of police response that was not appropriate to citizens' peaceful protest. The United Auto Worker's union was quick to react to this incident, threatening an automotive-wide strike if police brutality continued. UAW champion Victor Reuther announced his famous two-for-one plan: two new plan occupations for every one eviction of a striker. 

All the contentious Detroit labor activity demanded the attention of Michigan's governor, Frank Murphy. With the cooperation of strikers and cigar management, who met for negotiations at the end of April, an agreement was signed. The cigar industry conceded to the women's demands, and a cigar maker's union was established. The women were granted a 20% raise and a 40 hour work week. (1.) On May 17, 1937, the Cigar Workers Union Local 24 became active and affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. (8.) 

 

However, the ending for these women was less than happy. Due to unionization and an enforcement of higher wages for workers, many cigar factories closed their doors in Detroit and moved south where there was not strong labor movements. Bak records that by World War II, most of Detroit's cigar plants were closed. (1.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FURTHER RESEARCH TO BE CONDUCTED:

 

Detroit's cigar industry had a short live span, and its memory largely remains directly with those it effected during this time. Why was this? Workers' strikes and unionization occurred in both industries. However, one dissappeared from Detroit, and one remained--even to today in 2014. Further research to be conducted in order to answer this question includes an examination of political ties of each industry to the city and state. Did automotive companies have an incentive to stay in Michigan that could not easily be sacrificed or ignored? Or was the automotive network already far more established than the cigar industry's? More factors should be theorized and explored to establish the reasons behind this difference.

 

Furthermore, why did the police react to the strike so strongly? Was it due to mayor's orders? Corporate political pressure? Did the police officiers face any reprimand for injuring the peaceful women strikers? Was this protocol? To answer these questions, I would first examine the police response to the previous UAW strikes in depth. In order to do so, I would read newspaper articles on both events, likely on microfilm. Then, I would analyze the language used in the report surrouding policy brutality. Is the word choice nonchalant? Is it calling attention? Was this a front page story? For how many days? Factors such as these should be looked at to gather a full picture of how common or uncommon law enforcement reactions like this were. Since Mr. Kaperzinski was disturbed by what he saw, I believe it is likely that others were too, and that this shock will be demonstrated in news coverage.