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Labor History - 107: Spies In Auto Shops

August 26, 1974

Labor History - 107: Spies In Auto Shops

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Title
Labor History - 107: Spies In Auto Shops
Creator
Wright, Fred, 1907-1984
Contributor
Lerner, James, 1911-2003 (contributor)
University of Pittsburgh (depositor)
Contributor
Lerner, James, 1911-2003
Date
August 26, 1974
Identifier
ue13.3.1.107
Description
This cartoon depicts how some companies used spies to find union backers so that they could be fired. Caption 1: UE's first big victory, at RCA, in 1936 was shortly to be followed by new advances by other working people in other industries. The auto industry had long been known for its speedup built around the so-called belt system of production. Although wages were as low as 20 cents an hour in the auto industry, employers worked their men until they dropped. During an intense mid-summer heat wave that year Detroit ambulances were kept busy carrying collapsed workers to the hospitals. Caption 2: Workers had no control over the piece work rates. As soon as they met the standards, the time-study men would be in to raise the quotas. There were no unions and the manufacturers were ruthless in their determination to keep unions out. At the Ford plant in Dearborn, Mich. a widespread spy system operated under the notorious Harry Bennett to seek out any union supporters and to fire them. Caption 3: General Motors had its own anti-union schemes including the Black Legion, a hooded organization similar to the Ku Klux Klan, which engaged in outright murder to discourage workers from joining unions. The newspapers, the radio stations, school officials, even religious leaders in such auto towns as Flint, Mich. were all engaged in fighting the corporation rear-guard attack on unions. The companies refused to even meet with representatives of the new Auto Workers' Union. UE News, Vol. XXXVI, Issue No. 17
Type
still image
Genre
comics (documents)
comic strips
layouts (printed matter)
Subject
Businesses, Politics and Legislation
Source
Labor History Series (Series 13.3.1), Fred Wright Publication Plates (Subgroup 13.3), Fred Wright Papers (UE.13)
Collection
Fred Wright Cartoons
Contributor
University of Pittsburgh
Rights Information
In Copyright. This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/