DECEMBER 30, 1936

Spurred by an unfounded rumor that work is going to be transferred to plants with weak union support, autoworkers begin a spontaneous sit-down strike at General Motors Corporation (GMC) plants in Flint. After the workers rejected a court injunction demanding that they leave the factories, the National Guard was mobilized to keep the peace. As the strike dragged on, the workers' wives organized to show support for their husbands' cause and to keep them supplied with provisions. The strike was a reaction to worsening unemployment and working conditions in the early 1930s, as well as a result of autoworkers' increased interest in union representation. In the past, semi- or unskilled autoworkers had been unwelcomed in craft unions. Since 1935, the newly formed United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)—armed with the Wagner Act that guaranteed workers the right to organize and bargain collectively—had been confronting GMC, then the nation's largest auto manufacturer. Despite charges of low wages and degrading working conditions, GMC refused to recognize a single union as the worker's sole representative. The Flint sit-down strike ended in early February, after GMC agreed to recognition and other demands. Other auto manufacturers soon recognized the UAW, but the Ford Motor Company held out until May 1941. Nevertheless, the Flint sit-down strike made Michigan one of the nation's most powerful union states.

• Learn more about the Flint sit-down strike:
  • visit the Michigan Historical Museum in person
  • see the online version of the museum's Great Depression Gallery

Updated 06/23/2011