Flint Sit-Down Strike (1936)

Wed Dec 30, 1936

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Image: Sit-down strikers guarding window entrance to Fisher body plant number three. Photo by Sheldon Dick, 1937.

On this day in 1936, auto workers at the GM Fisher Number One Plant in Flint, Michigan began a highly organized 44-day occupation of their factory, winning a 5% wage increase.

The victory was an extremely successful recruitment tool for the just-formed United Automobile Workers (UAW), with approximately half a million workers signing up with the union over the next few years.

The UAW had formed in 1935 and decided to adjust its organizing strategy to target the most valuable auto factories and employers. They decided to target GM factories in Flint, which were essential to multiple lines of GM cars, and to the cars of GM’s subsidiary companies like Chevrolet and Buick.

As Wyndham Mortimer, the first UAW officer put in charge of organizing the campaign in Flint, entered the town, he was surveilled by men from GM. The company had also infiltrated local union shops (which had very few of the local auto workers) with spies. The UAW was thus forced to organize in secret.

On December 30th, the union learned that GM was planning to move dies essential to the Fisher #1 plant’s strategic value out of the factory. UAW lead organizer Bob Travis immediately called a lunchtime meeting at the union hall across the street from the plant, explained the situation, then sent the members across the street to occupy the plant, beginning the Flint Sit-Down Strike.

The state government refused to get involved, so GM attempted to break the occupation by cutting power and water, and interfering with food deliveries. Workers organized committees dedicated to defense, cleaning, organized recreation, and postal service.

On January 11th, 1937, the police, armed with guns and tear gas, attempted to enter the plant. They were successfully repelled by the workers, who pelted the cops with hinges, bottles, and bolts. Fourteen strikers were injured by gunfire during the battle.

GM obtained two injunctions against the strike, however these were ignored by the workers. One injunction was issued by a judge who owned over three thousand shares of GM, leading him to getting disbarred after the UAW discovered this information.

On February 11th, 1937, GM signed a one-page agreement that formally recognized the UAW as a bargaining representative. The UAW gained significant credibility - in the following year, its membership grew from 30,000 to 500,000 members. Employees of other car manufacturers such as Ford joined the organization, and the entire industry rapidly unionized.

  • Transient PunkEnglish
    3•8 days ago

    So, they went on strike for 12% of the year, and only won a 5% raise. That barely would cover inflation for two years. What a shame they didn’t get more

    • redrumM
      2•8 days ago

      No, they went on strike to challenge GM. And to change, to some extent, the relationship between owners and workers, and it was a great victory.

      In the documentary With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women’s Emergency Brigade (directed by Lorraine Gray, 1979, YouTube, archive.org), they stated it was not for money. Also, from Wikipedia:

      The agreement that GM consented to was to rehire workers that were a part of the strike, allow workers to wear buttons and other symbols that represented unions, and granted 6 months of negotiations in the plants that participated in a strike to UAW-CIO. As short as this agreement was, it gave the UAW instant legitimacy. The workers there also got a 5% increase in pay and were allowed to talk about the union during lunch. The UAW capitalized on that opportunity, signing up 100,000 GM employees and building the union’s strength through grievance strikes at GM plants throughout the country. Several participants in the strike, including Charles I. Krause, went on to greater prominence within the union. Other notable participants in the sit-down strike were future D-Day hero and Greco-Roman wrestling champion Dean Rockwell, labor leader and future UAW president Walter Reuther, and the uncle of documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, whose debut feature Roger & Me contains a clip from the strike.

      In the next year, UAW membership grew from 30,000 to 500,000 members. Employees of other car manufacturers such as Ford joined, as the entire industry was rapidly unionized. As later noted by the BBC, “the strike was heard 'round the world”.

      The Sit-Down Strike projected a principle weapon of mass organization in the labor industry projecting nearly 5000 strikes to come within the next year. Giving labor workers newfound unionization regardless of race, education status creating opportunities for membership agreements, payroll negotiation, and even government protection for workers. The Sit-Down Strike provoked a newfound impact in the labor industry, giving the workers a newfound confidence to join unions and use their voice.