The Flint, Michigan Sit-Down Strike

Tom  Nicholas; Christopher T. Stanton; Matthew  Preble

Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2017 (Revised May 2018)

The Flint, Michigan Sit-Down Strike

by Tom Nicholas, Christopher T. Stanton and Matthew Preble

Abstract

For roughly six weeks between late December 1936 and February 1937, a major strike at several critical General Motors (GM) plants in Flint, Michigan, essentially halted the corporation’s U.S. production and resulted in significant gains for the nascent United Automobile Workers of America union and the Committee for Industrial Organization, both of which had supported the strike. The Flint, Michigan, Sit-Down Strike represented a stunning victory for organized labor in a context where New Deal era legislation—most notably the National Labor Relations Act of 1935—created a labor friendly environment in the short run, with possibly adverse consequences for the performance of the U.S. automobile industry in the long run.

Keywords: industrial unionism; craft unionism; welfare capitalism; General Motors; Labor; Labor Unions; Labor and Management Relations; Wages; Working Conditions; Government Legislation; Business History; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Community Relations; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Mining Industry; Steel Industry; United States; Michigan;

Language: English

Format: Print

26 pages

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Citation:

Nicholas, Tom, Christopher T. Stanton, and Matthew Preble. "The Flint, Michigan Sit-Down Strike." Harvard Business School Case 817-005, February 2017. (Revised May 2018.)

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The Flint, Michigan Sit-Down Strike

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The Flint, Michigan Sit-Down Strike

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