In April 1934, 800 skilled workers seeking to affiliate with the AFHW voted to strike. They sought to overturn the results of an unfair union election, gain recognition for the AFHW, and achieve union scale in all Real Silk mills.

The strike lasted nearly two months. Violence flared in the city almost immediately, as the issues of the strike became compounded by the continuing hardships of the depression. The most serious act of violence was the explosion of a bomb in a Real Silk employee’s home -allegedly detonated by union sympathizers in protest of the employee’s choice to cross the picket line during the strike. The union and striking workers denied responsibility and asserted that the company had instigated these events in order to discredit the union and distract the public’s attention from their just strike demands.

The strike attracted national attention and eventually made Indianapolis a focal point of the Roosevelt administration’s attempt to settle labor problems while pulling the country out of depression. After mediation failed, NLRB hearings were held in Washington, D.C. and the Board’s decision effectively ended the strike and the organizing drive of the AFHW. The decision upheld the 1933 election and recognized the company union as representative of the employees and striking workers were forced to seek reinstatement from the company union.