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About The Flint GM Sit-Down Strike

Described by one historian as the most momentous confrontation between American labor and management in the twentieth
century, the Flint Sit-down Strike pitted the fledgling United Automobile Workers (UAW) against General Motors (GM), the worlds largest corporation. The strike began on December 30, 1936, when autoworkers refused to leave GMs Fisher Body Number One plant, located in Flint, Michigan. For weeks the nation watched. To those sympathetic with labors goal of unionizing the auto industry, it was a story of David vs. Goliath. To those dedicated to the sanctity of property, the UAW posed a radical, revolutionary threat to industrial capitalism. What made the strike unique was the workers refusal to leave the plant. GMs efforts to respond to the strike proved ineffective, and when violence erupted, Governor Frank Murphy sent in the National Guard to maintain the peace. Murphy then worked to bring both sides to the bargaining table. On February 11with its auto production virtually haltedGM conceded and gave the UAW the right to organize its workers. Other auto companies soon caved in. The exception was the Ford Motor Company, which resisted the UAW until 1941. Labor began 1937 with high hopes, but few victories. By the end of the yearthanks to the sit-down strikelabor was firmly entrenched in Detroit and had become a powerful force in the auto industry and the city.

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