Flint sit-down strike

1936–37 labor strike at the General Motors plant in Michigan Flint sit-down strikeSit-down strikers guarding window entrance to Fisher body plant number three. Photo by Sheldon Dick, 1937.DateDecember 30, 1936 – February 11, 1937LocationFlint, MichiganResultRecognition of the UAWParties United Automobile Workers National Guard General Motors Flint Police Department Number 136,000+ GM workers The 1936–1937 Flint sit-down strike, also known as the General Motors sit-down strike, or the great GM sit-down strike, was a sitdown strike at the General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan, United States. It changed the United Automobile Workers (UAW) from a collection of isolated local unions on the fringes of the industry into a major labor union and led to the unionization of the American automobile industry. Background GM employed 208,981 hourly workers before the Great Depression. These workers were paid around $1,195 annually. After the Great Depression jobs were increasing, but GM had 30,000 fewer employees than before the Great Depression. The pay was increasing nationwide in 1936, but at GM the pay was stagnant. Work Progress estimated for a four-person family $1,434.79 was needed