On this day in 1913, Detroit saw its—and America’s—first auto strike, shaping labor rights and the modern workweek across the nation.
TRANSCRIPT
On this day in 1913 The first of many historic automobile strikes happened in Detroit. Not only was it the first auto strike in the city or even in Michigan, it was the first auto strike in the country. Workers at multiple Studebaker plants in Detroit struck for their rights. The strikers were represented by The Industrial Workers of the World, a union with about 200 members in Detroit.
The history of Detroit, and other Michigander cities, as car towns and as union towns go hand in hand. American labor conditions have only been the better for it. Striking workers in Michigan have helped industrial workers across the country gain access to fair wages, stable employment, safer work environments as well as predicable hours. Detroit not only created the American car, with its unions it created the American work week and defined full time employment as 40 hours a week.