Organized Labor Took a Huge Step Forward When GM Workers Sat Down in Unison in 1937

"As the clocks struck noon on January 11, 1937, roughly 100 men camped on the second floor of a Flint auto plant suddenly found themselves without heat. Under normal circumstances, there might have been 1,000 workers inside the Fisher No. 2 facility, bustling to produce auto bodies, sending 450 of them to a Chevrolet assembly facility across the road every 24 hours. But the day's more austere climate owed itself to decidedly unusual circumstances."

"Eschewing the traditional method of picketing outside, their primary chosen tactic-the sit-down strike-was as disruptive as it was rare. As Greg Zipes, an attorney who teaches at New York's University School of Professional Studies, has written: "Workers stay at their workstations" to "prevent any other workers, presumably non-union strikebreakers, from taking their place." Because the processes involved in automobile production were so tightly integrated, relatively small numbers of workers placed at strategically chosen choke points could effectively paralyze production even at an industrial leviathan"

"Since the sit-down had begun, the thousands of strikers had passed the time in relative peace, undisturbed by G.M. management and the police. But, feeling a sudden burst of winter air at midday, the workers realized something was afoot. Sure enough, the company had switched off the heat, and company guards outside were also blocking the delivery of food, marking the first in a series of escalations that culminated in a violent clas"

On December 30, 1936, workers at Fisher No. 2 in Flint initiated a sit-down strike to compel General Motors to recognize the United Auto Workers. The tactic involved staying at workstations to prevent non-union replacements and targeting choke points in tightly integrated automobile production, enabling relatively small numbers to paralyze output. Thousands participated and initially remained undisturbed by management and police. On January 11, 1937, company actions escalated when management cut the heat and company guards blocked food deliveries, initiating a series of confrontations that culminated in violent conflict.

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