Steel Strike, 1952 In this photograph, steelworkers in Gary, Indiana, listen to a speech by CIO president Philip Murray, given on June 22, 1952. Murray promised to lead the union on strike and get a contract for its members. Five years earlier, Congress had passed the Taft-Hartley Act, which hampered union organizing. Before the steel strike could begin, President Truman seized the steel plants and placed them under federal control, an action the Supreme Court soon reversed. © Bettmann/CORBIS