Today is the 75th anniversary of the "Battle of the Overpass" at the Ford Rouge plant

[Bozita]

Caption: "Battle of the overpass," by James Kilpatrick, May 26, 1937. UAW officer Richard Frankensteen is attacked by Ford Motor Company security officers. This photo captured national attention and led the Pulitzer committee to create a new category for photography. (James Kilpatrick / The Detroit News) Album ID: 1369999 Photo ID: 39083129



UAW leaders and workers commemorate the Battle of the Overpass at Ford's Rouge complex
May 26, 2012 | Comments
By Brent Snavely
Detroit Free Press Business Writer


UAW leaders and workers gathered Friday at Ford's Rouge complex in Dearborn to commemorate the Battle of the Overpass, one of the most pivotal moments in labor history.

-snip-

On May 26, 1937, Walter Reuther and other labor leaders went to the overpass that connected the front entrance of the complex to Miller Road as they were trying to unionize the company.

After successfully organizing General Motors and Chrysler, the UAW came to the Ford Rouge complex to hand out informational leaflets and talk to workers about organizing.

They were met by Ford's security forces. They were attacked and beaten in an event that was captured by news photographers.

Ford founder Henry Ford opposed unions, in part because he thought he already was treating workers better than competitors. Ford had created the $5 workday, cut an hour off the standard workday and provided on-the-job educational facilities.

But photos of the savage beating that took place on the overpass and the tactics of Harry Bennett, who led Ford's security forces, caused public opinion to swing in the UAW's favor.

more...
http://www.freep.com/article/20120526/BUSINESS01/205260320/UAW-leaders-and-workers-commemorate-the-Battle-of-the-Overpass-at-Ford-s-Rouge-complex

[lib2DaBone]

1. Thanks for posting. Workers have had to fight (bloody fights)

Workers have had to fight and scratch (bloody fights) over the lat 75 years... for each and every small gain. Bathroom breaks, heated workspace... a 40 hour work week.

Corporations can not be trusted to be "Good Citizens" on their own. Never have.. never will.

Now.. the Koch Bros and their band of foot-soldier henchman Governors, have convinced the TeaBag Idiots that it is OK to just throw all these protections away.
----------------------------------

snip

Florida Gov. Rick Scott attended a secret, invitation-only meeting outside Vail, Colo., hosted by conservative billionaire GOP donors David and Charles Koch, the governor’s staff confirmed today.

Scott, the self-proclaimed “jobs governor,” joined at least three other conservative Republican heads-of-state at the semi-annual meeting.

Govs. John Kasich of Ohio and Bob McDonnell of Virginia all dropped into the conference, entitled “Understanding and Addressing Threats to American Enterprise and Prosperity.” And Scott’s competitor-in-chief, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, addressed the group on Sunday, the first of the four-day meeting that wraps up Wednesday.

[Bozita]

4. I fear that these fights are going to be have to be fought again.

This kind of history will never be taught in US schools as long as the Texas State School Board keeps picking the textbooks.

[demmiblue]

2. Thanks for posting this, Bozita.

K&R!

[DeSwiss]

3. Ford Motor Company security officers = Mob goons. K&R - n/t

[ArcticFox]

5. I wonder

Is it this sort of thing that led to Michigan being ducked economically for the past twenty our thirty years?

I mean Michigan had the nerve to name a freeway after Walter Reuther, after all. The nerve of them.

[ArcticFox]

6. Ducked is Android's way of writing something that starts with "f"

[Bozita]

7. Link to a series of 40 photos of the struggle for workers' rights from the '30s ...

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120524/OPINION01/205240324

[fishwax]

8. k/r -- thanks for this thread

And thanks to the workers of previous generations who fought (and sometimes died) for rights that we still enjoy today.