noise and temperatures over 100 degrees. It scolded the "big bosses", Murrie and Hershey, for their "high salaries and slave-driving methods". The newsletter was signed by the Communist Party of Hershey, PA and strongly advised the workers to unionize. Events of the strike CIO Comes to Town In January 1937, Members of the CIO held a secret meeting at a firehouse in Palmyra, PA. After the meeting, several hundred Hershey employees formed a local of the United Chocolate Workers Union and within weeks several hundred factory workers had joined. When the union first approached Hershey to negotiate, they were met with little resistance. The corporation reported it would raise wages to 60 cents/hour for men and 45 cents/hour for women. After the initial agreement, Hershey laid off some union organizers as part of what company president William Murrie said to be part of seasonal cutbacks. The CIO argued that Hershey violated the promise of job security for union organizers in their March agreement. Union members met back at the firehouse on April 1, 1937 and chose to take action on behalf of its members. Strike On April 2, 1937 at eleven in the morning, union president Russell "Bull" Behman waved a red handkerchief outside the Hershey chocolate factory and signaled the strike was on. In a matter of minutes, the machines were switched off and whole buildings went silent. Some sat down at their posts, others went outside to picket, and hundreds took to the roofs of factory buildings along Chocolate Avenue. During lunchtime, the workers still loyal to Hershey went home. It is unclear how many actually took part in the strike—organizers claim 1,200 while Hershey executives say 400. Strikers decided they would sit-down in shifts. Food would be supplied by a union kitchen, surveillance cameras would make sure Hershey's property was not damaged, and smoking was banned in sanitary areas of the factory. The CIO flag flew above the factory, replacing the traditional American flag. The first few days of the strike seemed peaceful as strikers smiled for cameras and were optimistic about negotiations. Strikers described the sit-down as "more like a family squabble than an angry revolution". But workers were no longer dealing with Milton Hershey, instead they faced new executive William Murrie who was strongly anti-union. Murrie announced the company would not bargain until the strikers left the factory. Dairy farmers Hershey's mostly positive reputation meant