Detroit's 300th Anniversary
Taking Labor's Story to the Classroom

Story by Khaalid Walls

Lenders Williams (left) and Tammy Fischer discuss unions with Redford students.

“We have to start in the schools,” said UAW Local 845 member Tammy Fischer. She spoke to students at Detroit’s Redford High School on March 27 about the importance of unions in Detroit’s history. “We have to start with the young on up,” she said.

Detroit 300 is a non-profit organization that is planning the tricentennial anniversary celebration of the founding of Detroit in 1701 by the French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. The celebration is supported with volunteers from the UAW, other labor unions, and community groups.

As part of Detroit 300, an AFL-CIO member union’s speakers bureau, sponsored by the Michigan Labor History Society, is going to area elementary and secondary schools to discuss labor’s deep roots in Detroit.

Fischer, who graduated from high school in 1995, wished there had been more programs like this one when she was in school, but said she was fortunate to have had parents who were union members.

“When I was in high school, they never taught us about the importance of unions. I learned at home,” said Fischer.

For her, teaching students about unions and labor history is a labor of love.

“I want to reach as many kids as possible so they’ll know how important unions are and what they do,” said Fischer, who led students in a role-play exercise on the harsh conditions in non-union workplaces.

The role-play exercise allowed the students to participate in a mock fast food restaurant setting where Fischer acted as a supervisor who probed workers’ lockers and made cracks about workers wearing political buttons. After the exercise, students were asked how many legal rights had been violated.

The students pointed out many, but to their surprise they learned that their constitutional rights had not been violated at all. Because, Fischer told them, most fast food restaurants are not unionized, workers are “at will” employees, who can be discharged and mistreated at the will of management. The U.S. Constitution does not protect workers against abusive private companies, only against abuses by government.

UAW Local 3000 member Lenders Williams discussed labor history with the students. She noted how important it was for children to be educated on unions and dispel many of the misconceptions they have about them.

Williams discussed the impact the UAW Negro Organizing Committee, which included the father of longtime labor-friendly Congressman John Conyers, had on Ford’s recognition of the UAW as the bargaining unit for its workers.

She also told students how the UAW worked with black religious leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights struggles.

“The kids only see the negative side of unions. They need to realize how far unions have brought us,” said Williams.

All in all, Williams felt the students were very receptive to the message. She said they are eager to learn that more than just auto workers are in unions. “We are letting them know that people from all walks of life have and need a voice in the workplace,” said Williams.

And for 10th-grader Michael Liggons that message was heard loud and clear. “I think it’s cool to learn about unions. When I start looking for a job, I’ll make sure they have a union,” said Liggons, who appreciated learning “how unions protect the rights of workers.”

Liggons’ classmate, Atiba Williams, whose father works at DaimlerChrysler, said he had some prior knowledge of unions since his dad regularly attends union meetings. “It helps out to have a union. That way they (management) can’t take advantage of you,” said Williams.

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