The agreement reached ended the Flint sit-down strike marked a decisive moment in United States labor history. On that date, General Motors formally recognized the United Automobile Workers as the collective bargaining representative for its employees, bringing to a close a forty-four-day confrontation that reshaped industrial relations in the mass production economy. The settlement altered the balance of power between corporate management and industrial labor and established legal and practical precedents that extended far beyond the automobile industry.
The Flint sit-down strike began in late December 1936 at General Motors facilities in Flint, Michigan, a city that functioned as the operational center of the company’s production system. Workers employed an unconventional tactic by occupying key plants rather than leaving them. By remaining inside the factories, strikers prevented the removal of machinery and blocked the use of replacement labor. This method directly challenged traditional strikebreaking practices and exposed the vulnerability of vertically integrated industrial production. General Motors depended on synchronized output from multiple plants, and even brief disruptions at Flint had national consequences for automobile assembly.
The strike unfolded against the backdrop of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, which affirmed the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively. While the law provided a legal framework for union recognition, its enforcement depended on political will and corporate compliance. General Motors initially refused to recognize the UAW, questioning its legitimacy and resisting negotiations. The company pursued legal injunctions and sought assistance from local authorities to regain control of the occupied facilities. These efforts failed due to worker discipline, union organization, and the strategic importance of the seized plants.
State and federal political actors played a critical role in shaping the outcome. Michigan Governor Frank Murphy declined to use the National Guard to forcibly remove strikers. Instead, he deployed troops to prevent violence and protect public order. This decision reduced the likelihood of bloodshed and limited the ability of General Motors to resolve the conflict through coercion. Federal officials, including representatives of the Roosevelt administration, monitored the situation closely, aware that the dispute tested the credibility of New Deal labor policy.
The February 11 agreement required General Motors to recognize the UAW as the exclusive bargaining agent for its members, reinstate striking workers without discrimination, and establish procedures for future negotiations. While the settlement did not resolve all disputes over wages or working conditions, it confirmed union legitimacy within the nation’s largest manufacturing corporation. Recognition allowed the UAW to expand rapidly, increasing membership and consolidating organizational capacity across the automobile sector.
The significance of the Flint settlement extended beyond General Motors. The success of the sit-down strike encouraged workers in steel, rubber, electrical equipment, and other mass production industries to pursue unionization. It demonstrated that collective action could compel even the most powerful corporations to negotiate under the framework of federal labor law. At the same time, it intensified opposition among employers, who viewed sit-down strikes as threats to property rights and managerial authority. This tension contributed to subsequent legal and political debates over the limits of permissible labor action.
In historical perspective, the end of the Flint sit-down strike marked a shift from fragmented craft unionism toward industrial unionism, in which all workers in a given industry organized across skill levels. The UAW emerged from the conflict as a central institution in American labor, shaping wage standards, workplace rules, and political alliances for decades. The events of early 1937 also influenced judicial and legislative responses, including later restrictions on sit-down strikes, while leaving intact the principle of collective bargaining secured by the National Labor Relations Act.
February 11, 1937, therefore stands as a defining date in the institutionalization of labor rights in the United States. The agreement between General Motors and the UAW did not end labor conflict, but it established recognition and negotiation as unavoidable features of industrial capitalism. Its legacy lies in the durable transformation of employer–employee relations and in the confirmation that organized labor had become a permanent force within American economic and political life.
References / More Knowledge:
Fine, S. (1969). Sit-down: The General Motors Strike of 1936–1937. University of Michigan Press. https://press.umich.edu/Books/S/Sit-Down
National Archives. (n.d.). Records of the National Labor Relations Board: Flint Sit-Down Strike. https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/025.html
Library of Congress. (n.d.). Flint Sit-Down Strike, 1936–1937. https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/february/flint-michigan-sit-down-strike
United Automobile Workers. (n.d.). The Flint Sit-Down Strike. https://uaw.org/1936-37-flint-sit-strike/
General Motors Heritage Center. (n.d.). GM and the 1936–1937 Flint Sit-Down Strike. https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/featured/flint-sit-down-strike.html