On May 23, 1950, the United Auto Workers and General Motors came to an agreement that became known as the Treaty of Detroit. This landmark agreement created labor peace in the auto industry but at the cost of the end of the the UAW’s attempt to gain greater control over production decisions and challenging the core tenets of American capitalism. In return, autoworkers would get record contracts with good pay and great benefits. This went far to set the terms of the peak of American unionism, but also helped lay the groundwork for its decline.
UAW History — The Treaty of Detroit
