Do you like earning above-average wages with some of the best health care insurance in the country? Do you like having a pension or a 401k that ranks in the top two percent of the country? These are just some of the gains made in collective bargaining. Did you know the UAW had to strike in 1937 for GM to recognize the union? The Flint Sit-Down was the strike that made these gains possible.
National Calendar Day describes why this day is so important….
#NationalWhiteShirtDay
Manufacturing provided a large part of our workforce in the early part of the 20th century. When the 1929 stock market crash triggered the Great Depression, auto manufacturers laid-off workers and cut costs. GM did as well, eliminating their more expensive models. They stripped down their remaining models and sped up production to a grueling pace. As they hired workers back, they did so at lower pay and didn’t consider seniority.
In 1935 the Wagner Act allowed workers to legally organize and join labor unions. By 1936, conditions reached a dangerous and fierce pace. Workers had organized before, standing in picket lines that put not only their jobs at risk but their lives, too.
Sit-ins, though, created an opportunity to shut down the plant entirely without any replacement workers crossing picket lines. On December 30, 1936, GM workers took up residence in the Flint, Michigan Body Plant Number 1, after a plan to walk out was derailed. Their sit-in lasted 44 days and brought production to a halt and impacted not just GM but the entire auto industry.
The strike helped The United Auto Workers (UAW) union become the sole bargaining agent for General Motors autoworkers. The observance is best known in Flint, Michigan, and other cities that have a GM auto plant.
For visual learners or video watchers check out this YouTube video Flint Sit-Down and National White Shirt Day.
You still have time to order this year’s UAW Local 2250 White Shirt sold by our Education Committee. On February 11, 2025 let’s all wear our white shirts and stand-up for ourselves by honoring the Sit-Down!
