When the Great Depression began in 1929, Pollock became deeply involved in the Ohio Unemployed League,[2] a branch of the American Workers Party (AWP).
[3][4] In April 1934, Pollock became a leader in the bitter and violent strike by automobile parts workers at the Electric Auto-Lite plant in Toledo.
Pollock and fellow League organizer Ted Selander essentially ran the strike, along with AWP leader Louis Budenz, planning mass marches which forced the plant to close.
When a local court judge issued an injunction limiting the number of picketers, Pollock and Selander wrote a letter to the judge declaring that the Lucas County Unemployed League would "deliberately and specifically violate the injunction enjoining us from sympathetically picketing peacefully in support of the striking auto workers' federal union.
Pollock played a significant, but minor part in the negotiations which helped end the strike on June 2, 1934.
When Pollock finally met with his defense attorneys, sheriff's deputies crowded close to listen in on the conversations and physically intimidate the lawyers.
[9] Pollock was labeled a radical for his involvement with the AWP and the two strikes and ostracized from the mainstream labor movement.
Just a few years after his presidency began, Pollock had negotiated contracts which limited the work week to 40 hours and significantly raised wages.
In 1964, Pollock successfully negotiated the creation of the Community Health Foundation, a prepaid, direct-service medical care program.
A year later he won an agreement to establish a portable national employer-funded pension plan for all Amalgamated members.
Pollock remained only semi-retired, however, as he taught courses in health policy at California State University, Northridge.