Though great gains in membership, particularly among women, as well as success in gaining concessions from employers over working conditions and wages, characterized many United States labor unions during the First World War, by the postwar years of 1919 1921, many of these gains had begun to be undermined. Especially significant, then, is the story of consolidation and increase in power after the war by Local 36 of the International Laundry Workers' Union, whose members were primarily Black women.

On May 29, 1918 Local 36 struck all seven laundries in Little Rock, Arkansas. The case was referred to the National War Labor Board (NWLB), which ruled in favor of Local 36 Most of the laundry owners attempted to undermine the terms of the ruling by delaying or complicating its implementation. New hearings were held in May 1919, and again the NWLB decided in favor of the union By then, however, the NWLB- which had never held the power of enforcement—had lost even the persuasive advantage it had been able to employ during the war, and it regretfully informed the workers that they were on their own The laundry workers chose to continue the fight Local 36 declared a strike at the Fame Laundry, the worst offender among the city's laundries, and sued its owner to prevent him from using the treasured union label; the union's action inspired a citywide boycott. On June 27, Local 36 announced that it intended to open a cooperative laundry. The cooperative flourished, and the Fame Laundry went out of business.

Local 36's achievements during the war were facilitated by several factors. Because their work was essential to the military installations surrounding the city, the laundry workers' cause received immediate publicity and was quickly referred to the NWLB. Because several issues raised by Local 36's situation fit unusually well with the NWLB's concerns (for example, the recognition of workers' right to a wage on which they could live, and the principle of equal pay for equal work, regardless of race or gender), the workers received a great deal of institutional support, as well as the favorable ruling.

But it was the solidarity maintained by the laundry workers, both Black and White, that was responsible for their union's continuing success. Whereas after the war many United States labor organizations lost the feeling of community generated during the period of national crisis, Local 36 remained a singularly effective experiment in interracial cooperation. These women sustained their initiative and commitment through a four-year period, during which they mobilized an impressive community network. They demonstrated their determination by repeatedly threatening to strike. Finally, by going into business for themselves, this group of historically disempowered workers displayed the flexibility and creativity necessary to provide themselves with steady, well compensated employment and improved working conditions.