In 1937, General Motors factory employees were ready to unionize. Work on the United Auto Workers union began two years prior, and at GM, workers began plans for the automaker to recognize the legitimacy of the union and for bargaining purposes.
A historical gallery from The Detroit News depicts a 44-day-long strike that eventually led to GM recognizing the UAW as a bargaining unit, and the photos show the workers’ struggle as they fought for higher wages and employment protections. At the time, GM continuously shipped work to plants without union protections.
Throughout 1937, the strike pushed forward with mass demonstrations outside of various Detroit, Michigan, factories. Employees staged a sit-in at the Fisher Body Plant number one, which housed two sets of dies the automaker used to stamp nearly all of its cars. Without the dies, GM nearly shut down entirely. Workers guarded windows to keep scabs and strikebreakers from entering and moving equipment; women came together to set up kitchens to feed striking workers; and employees clashed with local police.
Michigan’s former governor, Frank Murphy, met with GM President Alfred Sloan and the U.S. Department of Labor in 1937 to discuss an end to the strike. Eventually, President Roosevelt called on GM to recognize the union so the plants could reopen. Finally, on February 11, 1937, GM signed a document to recognize the UAW as the exclusive bargaining representative for GM employees.
Historians look back on the strike as the most important in U.S. history as it provided pensions and higher wages for thousands of workers—the beginning of a higher standard of living for the entire country.
Comments
That’s outstanding
The funny is that unions lately in the past decade or two have led to the loss of more jobs than they protect with their sometimes insane and ridiculous demands they try to push.
And GM made 12 BILLION pre-tax profit last year under the current union contract consisting of ” insane and ridiculous demands”.
And when the UAW was credited with helping destroy the work place.
http://www.aei.org/publication/13-uaw-workers-at-chrysler-who-were-caught-red-handed-drinking-and-smoking-weed-during-work-hours-are-reinstated/
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/11/car-drugs-no-line-worker-built-may/
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20130313/NEWS/130319943/uaw-what-employees-do-on-their-own-time-is-their-business
The Unions have done some good but like many other organizations they have been corrupted and have overstepped their authority or common sense too.
And when the UAW was credited with helping destroy the work place.
http://www.aei.org/publication/13-uaw-workers-at-chrysler-who-were-caught-red-handed-drinking-and-smoking-weed-during-work-hours-are-reinstated/
The Unions have done some good but like many other organizations they have been corrupted and have overstepped their authority or common sense too.
They’ve been a thorn in the Industy’s side ever since IMO
I would not call them a thorn but they are not just in it just for the safety only.
They are also in it for the funding and for the headlines that bring it.
Amazing how convincing some 2 pound steel door hinges launched using inner tubes as slingshots can be!