What is National White Shirt Day/ White T-shirt Day?
National White Shirt Day, also known as National White T-Shirt Day, commemorates the day a historic autowork strike ended on February 11, 1937.
Manufacturing made up a significant portion of our workforce in the early part of the twentieth century. Automakers laid off employees and cut costs after the 1929 stock market crash triggered the Great Depression. GM did as well, removing their more expensive models from their more expensive ones. They sped up manufacturing to a stumbling pace after stripping down their remaining models and accelerating production to a stumbling pace. They rehire employees back, but they did so at lower pay and didn't consider seniority when they did.
The Wagner Act, 1935, made it possible for employees to legally organize and join labour unions. Conditions in 1936 reached a volatile and tense pace. Workers had been organized before, and they had been standing in picket lines that put not only their jobs in jeopardy but also their lives.
However, Sit-ins did have the opportunity to shut down the plant entirely without any replacement employees crossing picket lines. GM workers took up residence in the Flint, Michigan Body Plant Number 1, after a plan to walk out was derailed. Their sit-in lasted 44 days and brought production to a halt, but not only GM but also the entire auto industry.
The strike made The United Auto Workers (UAW) union the sole bargaining agent for GM autoworkers, according to the strike. The observance is most well known in Flint, Michigan, and other cities that have a GM auto plant.
