This Day in Automotive History | December 30, 1936 - Michigan Auto Workers Strike
By Ian Cooper-Smith
Since its inception, the automobile industry had long discouraged trade unions, however, on December 30, 1936, auto workers at the Flint Fisher Body plant waged a month-long battle against one of the largest auto manufacturer companies to establish exactly that. The Flint sit-down strike, also known as the General Motors sit-down strike was considered “the most critical labor conflict of the nineteen-thirties” for its role in dramatically transforming the face of labor and the auto industry in the mid-20th century. Formed just a year prior, United Automobile Workers (UAW) quickly sought to utilize the sympathy of the public who were just beginning to recover from the Great Depression. One of those sympathetic figures included Michigan Governor Frank Murphy, a supporter of New Deal policies. Seeking recognition for collective bargaining, safer working conditions, seniority rights, and increased wages, UAW took on the largest and most powerful automobile employer in the United States, General Motors Corporation (GM). During the Great Depression, GM dominated more than 43 percent of the domestic market after laying off huge swaths of its workforce, a common practice for corporations at the time to maintain a profit. GM had spent $839,000 on detective work in 1934 to subvert unionizing efforts and utilized a privatized security group called “The Black Legion” to maintain power through intimidation tactics. Undeterred, UAW led strikes at several GM plants in Atlanta, Kansas City, and Cleveland between November 18th and December 28th. By then approximately 135,000 workers from GM plants in 35 cities and 14 states were on strike. Hoping to further bring the behemoth corporation to its knees, UAW deliberately chose one of GM’s most valuable plants in Flint, Michigan, Fisher Body No. 1, that contained one of just two sets of body dies that GM used to stamp almost every one of its 1937 cars. Thus by seizing control of the Flint plant, autoworkers could effectively shut down the entire company. Spontaneously, on the evening of December 30, night shift workers collectively stopped working and locked themselves into the plant.
For over 44 days GM workers committed themselves to the sit-in strike, a tactic inspired by European workers. Unlike conventional strikes in which union members often leave the workplace and establish a picket line to discourage other employees from entering, in a sit-down strike, the workers physically occupy the plant, keeping management and others out and separated from the tools and machinery. By remaining inside the factory, striking workers prevented owners from reopening the plant and bringing in strikebreakers to resume production. Striking GM workers cultivated their own civil system to manage the operations. A mayor and other governing officials were elected by the body of workers to maintain order within the plant. On Jan. 11, 1937 the police attempted to stop food delivery to the plant. A violent confrontation eventually ensued as police officers, armed with riot guns and tear gas, attempted to storm the Fisher Body plant. The strikers inside fought back spraying hoses and hurling hinges, bottles, and bolts, withstanding several waves of attack at the plant gates for 20 minutes. A crowd of sympathizers gathered and protected the striking workers, forcing the police to retreat. The confrontation was dubbed “the Battle of the Running Bulls” by the local press. Word of the violent clash soon reached Frank Murphy who promptly mobilized 4,000 National Guardsmen; however, instead of using them against the workers, Murphy insisted on utilizing them as a peacekeeping force to maintain order and oversee negotiations. News of the strike and ensuing battle eventually reached president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s desk. Facing increased pressure from the mayor, the public, and the president of the United States, General Motors and UAW eventually reached an agreement on February 11, 1937. The aftermath of the Flint sit-down strike marked the first major victory for unionization in America's history and led to an explosion of similar movements. Within two weeks, 87 sit-down strikes began in Detroit. Within a year, membership in United Auto Workers grew from 30,000 to 500,000 and wages for autoworkers increased by as much as 300%. The strike not only transformed the UAW from a collection of isolated trade unions into a major labor union, but it also acted as the catalyst for unionization in the domestic automobile industry across the country.
Sources:
https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/february/flint-michigan-sit-down-strike
“Sit-down Strike Begins in Flint.”
History.com, A&E Television
Networks, 27 Jan. 2010,
www.history.com/this-day-in-
history/sit-down-strike-begins-in-flint.
https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120726124441/http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=115