And So It Began….

MLive has this look back at the formative event of the UAW at GM with 86 years ago today, Flint autoworkers started the Flint Sit-down strike..

The strike, broadly recognized as a critical moment in the history of organized labor, began on Dec. 30, 1936, when about 50 men sat down on the line inside GM’s Fisher Body Plant 2, protesting the transfer of three inspectors who refused to quit their union and as rumors swirled that the company was planning to move machine dies from Flint to other plants in an effort to circumvent a possible work stoppage.

Forty-four days after it started, the strike ended on Feb. 11, 1937, after GM recognized the right of hourly workers to unionize.

UAW members traditionally mark the end of the strike on White Shirt Day in Flint, an event that has been celebrated since Feb. 11, 1948, according to Flint Journal files. Those at the celebration wear white shirts to show that blue-collar workers have earned the right to the same respect as their management counterparts.