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United Auto Workers; Chrysler Workers StrikeBiblio.com

The Rise of the UAW and Industrial Labor Militancy in Depression Era Detroit: Chrysler Strike Press Photo Archive 1937

1937rif. 234461937. Labor Organization Chrysler strike press photo archive documenting the 1937 sit down strikes and picketing campaigns at Dodge Main and other Chrysler facilities in Detroit and Highland Park Michigan during the decisive phase of industrial unionization in the American automobile industry. The archive records workers occupying plants mass picket mobilizations outside factory gates anti injunction demonstrations and violence connected to the struggle between Chrysler management the United Automobile Workers and competing independent unions. These events unfolded only weeks after the February 1937 settlement of the Flint sit down strike against General Motors which established the UAW as a major industrial union and accelerated organizing efforts across Detroit's auto plants. Chrysler initially resisted recognition obtaining court injunctions ordering workers to evacuate occupied factories while thousands of laborers remained inside the plants or formed flying squadrons to block strikebreakers from entering. The scenes here capture the atmosphere of confrontation in Depression era industrial labor conflict at a time when mass production workers forced some of the largest corporations in the United States to negotiate with organized labor. Photo archive of 6 silver gelatin press photographs from 6 x 8 inches to 8 x 10 inches Detroit and Highland Park Michigan 1937. Affixed captions on versos with filing stamps dated March and August 1937. Crowds of striking workers gather outside Dodge Division and Chrysler factory gates beneath signs reading "Dodge Division of Chrysler Corporation Employment Office" and "We Are Here To Stay Dept. 82." Several men hold placards reading "82 is Sittin Too" "Spirit of 1937" and "Fence Jumper" while an effigy labeled "Injunction" hangs over the crowd in open defiance of a court order directing workers to vacate occupied plants. A large calendar board records the passing days of the sit down occupation beginning March 8 1937. Another scene shows relatives and supporters communicating with occupying workers through numbered department cards hung along the perimeter fence after union organizers established an improvised locating system for men inside the plant. One caption identifies "flying squadrons" directing picket activity outside Chrysler headquarters. The latest photograph records Frank A. Dillon identified as president of an independent Chrysler union receiving questioning from Detective Sergeant Harry Scher after an alleged beating connected to union violence that led Chrysler officials to temporarily close a plant pending investigation. The Chrysler strike formed part of the larger wave of industrial labor upheaval that reshaped American manufacturing during the New Deal. Passage of the Wagner Act in 1935 legally protected collective bargaining but enforcement depended on workers physically preventing corporations from continuing production with replacement labor. Sit down strikes became one of the most controversial tactics of the era because occupying workers halted machinery while denying employers access to their own factories. The archive preserves not only the mechanics of strike organization but also the public theater of industrial conflict in Depression era Detroit: marching pickets improvised communication systems anti injunction symbolism and massive worker assemblies outside factory gates. Moderate surface wear occasional creasing editorial markings and toning to versos with captions firmly affixed; images remain sharp and highly legible. Overall very good condition. unknown