Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act in 1935. Many consider it the single most important piece of United States labor legislation enacted in the 20th century. The Wagner Act, as it came to be known, (after the New York Senator who championed it) created a board with the power to protect the right of workers to organize unions of their own choosing, and to prohibit employers from refusing to collectively bargain with that union.

Soon afterwards, the United Automobile Workers of America was founded and demanded formal recognition from automakers as a legitimate representative of auto factory workers. However, the major automakers still resisted unionization, in part because the Supreme Court had not yet upheld the constitutionality of the Wagner Act.

By 1936, the UAW was considering nationwide strikes to obtain recognition, along with better working conditions, increased job security, and higher wages.

The UAW decided to focus on Fisher Body plants for two reasons: 1) Fisher Body employees were paid less and had less job security than employees of GM automotive divisions, like Chevrolet workers, under the same roof, at the Leeds plant. 2) If the production of a single essential part of cars, like the bodies Fisher made, was shut down, the entire corporate chain of production would be halted.

Following the lead of workers in Atlanta, Fisher Body workers in Kansas City began a sit-down strike on December 16, 1936. This was a new-style tactic in which workers physically occupied a factory, making it impossible for the company to bring in replacement workers. Because the strikers were unable to get food while in the plant, they surrendered their occupation after eight days. The strike continued outside, with workers surrounding the building. The strike soon spread to plants in Cleveland and, most famously, to Flint, Michigan. Soon 140,000 workers at 50 GM plants either joined the strike or were forced to stop working due to the lack of car bodies. Violence erupted in Flint when the National Guard and the local police used tear gas, fixed bayonets, and the threat of gunfire to confront the strikers. Finally, the governor of Michigan intervened and convinced GM to back down.

Two months after workers first sat down at the Leeds plant, GM recognized the UAW on February 17, 1937.

In January of 1937, while workers at the GM Leeds plant were striking, the 3,200 workers of the Ford Winchester plant also went on strike. Citing the hectic pace of the assembly line, harsh working conditions, and no job security, they formed UAW local 249, the first ever charter of Ford employees. In April, the company fired 400 employees who had joined the union. Workers quickly responded by launching a sit-down strike, the first ever against Ford. Negotiations led to dramatic improvements in working conditions, but no union recognition.

Stating he would never recognize the union, Henry Ford threatened closure of the Winchester plant. Ford set up a company-friendly rival union, disrupted UAW meetings, raided the Local 249 headquarters, brought in truckloads of police-escorted replacement workers, and had hundreds of picketers arrested. More than a thousand charges of Unfair Labor Practices were filed against Ford. Following the longest trial in National Labor Relations Board history (up to that time), a court decision was handed down in May, 1941. Ford was ordered to rehire all employees who had filed charges and strikers were awarded back pay to the tune of $2.5 million.

Image Top Left:
President Roosevelt signing the National Labor Relations Act which protected the workers’ right to organize unions and to bargain collectively, 1935.

Image Bottom Left:
The 3,200 employees of the Kansas City Ford Winchester Plant, across the street in Sheffield Park, demanding that the company recognize their right to organize, 1937.

Image Green Area Top:
Fisher Body workers occupying the Kansas City Leeds Plant during the sit-down strike, December 1936.

Image Green Area Middle:
The sit-down strike spread to Fisher Body plants in other cities, like Flint, Michigan, 1937.

Image Green Area Bottom:
Local 249, the first UAW charter at any Ford plant, still represents Ford workers at the Kansas City Assembly Plant, now at Claycomo, Missouri.