An Editorial
The Flint Sit-Down Strike - As I See It

By ______________________, Ace Reporter, Flint Journal Date:____________

The _ _ _-_ _ _ _ strike of 1936 and 1937 by members by a _ _ _ _ _ called the United Automobile Workers of America, was an important event in the state of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _'s history. It was important because it was the first time that the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Corporation signed and agreement with a union that allowed collective bargaining for all of its members.

The _ _ _ _ _ called the strike because they said that the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Corporation had fired workers because they belonged to the union, which was illegal. They may have done this to discourage membership to the union. The union organizers were also unhappy because GM would not let the union bargain collectively. GM made all workers, including union members, settle their problems at the plant where they worked. GM said that letting a union represent workers that had not chosen to belong to the union would violate the workers' constitutional _ _ _ _ _ _.

The worker's were mainly unhappy because of the _ _ _ _ _ - up of the assembly lines where they worked. The lines moved so fast that the workers were exhausted. They felt that the speed of the lines was inhumane. If workers could not keep up, they were often given other jobs that paid less.
During the strike, two injunctions were given by two different _ _ _ _ _ _ that ordered the strikers to leave the plants they occupied. Both Judge Black and Judge Gadola said that the strikers were violating the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ rights of the GM Corporation by staying in the plants. The union lawyers said that GM was guilty of violating the worker's equity rights, but Judge Gadola said equity was another issue for another judge to decide upon. Governor _ _ _ _ _ _ chose to hold back the police and National Guard and not force the strikers leave GM's property. Governor _ _ _ _ _ _ said that if he let the police and National Guard remove the strikers, the strikers would fight back and some people could get
_ _ _ _ . He said he wanted the strike to be settled peacefully. The union said that since GM had broken the law that workers had a right to break the law also. There were several consequences of not making the strikers leave the plants.

An organization called the _ _ _ _ _ Alliance was formed during the strike by workers who had _ _ _ _ their jobs and who were protesting the _ _ _-_ _ _ _ strike by the UAW. About 35,000 workers joined the _ _ _ _ _ Alliance. The UAW union had 4,500 members in Flint at the time of the strike.

One news article said that 46,000 GM workers living in Flint were without jobs because of the _ _ _ -_ _ _ _ _ strike. These workers lost $3,855,000 in wages. The same article said that because the workers had no jobs and no income, there were 2,700 families on relief in Flint. (Relief means that people in need could collect _ _ _ _ _ from the state to buy food and pay their basic expenses.) Stores lost 50% of their income. Across America, about 240,000 GM workers has lost 44,000,000 in wages during the 42 day strike.

When the strike was settled, GM agreed to let the union bargain collectively for its members only. GM also agreed not to bargain with any other organization for six months, and to begin negotiations on the union's list of demands once the strikers were out of the plants.