Shortly before the Great Depression, Goodrich acquired the Hood Rubber Company of Water-town, Massachusetts, and the Miller Rubber Company of Akron. The Depression reduced rubber demand and affected the company’s labor relations with its 15,000 employees in Akron. The United Rubber Workers union (URW) was formed in 1934, and in 1936 national labor leader John Lewis came to Akron to rally union support. His visit sparked a five-week strike at the plants of Goodrich, Goodyear, and Firestone, temporarily shutting down the nation’s three largest rubber producers.
