On this day, 79 years ago, on January 27, 1946 (December 25, 1945 in the lunar calendar), 800,000 steel workers in the United States joined the strike. Los Angeles police attack strikers with tear gas On January 27, 1946, 800,000 American steel workers joined the strike that swept the country. To casual observers, America in peacetime seems to be surrounded by a huge picket line. Millions of workers in a wide range of industries are now on strike. More than 800,000 steel workers have been involved in the recent strike, and they have targeted U.S. Steel. Elsewhere in the United States, workers at General Motors and General Electric have also held costly strikes. Coffin-making workers are on strike, and telephone workers are going to strike. The nation's capital faces a strike by taxi drivers, and workers at meat packaging plants returned to work only on federal orders.