The Flint Sit-Down Strike: 44 Days That Built the UAW

The National Park Service calls the Flint Sit-Down Strike one of the most significant labor disputes in American history. It began on December 30, 1936, when autoworkers occupied key General Motors Fisher Body operations in Flint. The idea was simple but bold: if workers walked out, replacements could take their jobs. By staying inside, they kept GM from running those operations without them.

The occupation included Fisher Body Plants No. 1 and No. 2 and held for 44 days. Workers slept inside and organized food deliveries through the windows. The Women’s Emergency Brigade helped keep the strikers supplied and defended the picket lines. On January 11, police tried to retake Plant No. 2 with tear gas. The clash became known as the “Battle of the Running Bulls.” Gov. Frank Murphy refused to use force to evict the strikers.

On February 11, 1937, GM and the union reached an agreement recognizing the UAW as bargaining representative for the workers who took part. The Library of Congress notes that it was once called “the strike heard round the world.” It helped turn the UAW from a young union into a national force and encouraged industrial organizing well beyond Flint.