by Justin | Aug 26, 2020 | Jerry Tucker, Labor History, New Directions Movement, UAW History
In January of 2013, an obituary of Jerry Tucker, who died of pancreatic cancer a year ago at age 73, characterized the longtime labor activist as “the man who could have saved organized labor.” Tucker might have balked at the suggestion that he...
by Justin | Aug 26, 2020 | Labor History, UAW History
Via the Motor Cities National Heritage Area On August 26, 1935, the United Automobile Workers of America was founded in Detroit. As factory production grew, auto workers faced increasingly dangerous, even fatal working conditions. When the Wagner Act passed in 1935,...
by Justin | Aug 11, 2020 | Education, Labor History, UAW History, Wayne State University
Public historians have an important role to play in disseminating narratives of American labor history that emphasize the struggles and contributions of workers of all races, genders, and sexual orientations and privilege the experiences of teachers, nurses, and...
by Justin | Aug 11, 2020 | Erik Loomis, Labor History, UAW History
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis’ work at Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 11, 1911. Workers at the Watertown Arsenal in Watertown, Massachusetts walked off the job as the scientific...
by Justin | Aug 4, 2020 | Social Issues, UAW History
In 1973, Arab-American workers in Detroit auto plants walked off the job in protest of the UAW’s investment in bonds from the state of Israel. The incident is little-remembered today, but it shows how workers can organize against racism and colonialism — including...
by Justin | Aug 1, 2020 | UAW History
Mike Westfall was offered a job at Solidarity House, the UAW’s headquarters in Detroit. It would’ve meant a pay raise and a second pension, but Westfall said he turned it down, because he wasn’t in it for the money. Today, Westfall can only look at his once-precious...