WE’RE GOLDEN!
Solidarity magazine turns 50 this year
The news stories in the yellowed Solidarity magazine, dated Dec. 16, 1957, reflect a different time:
• “Labor cleans house, upholds union ideals” headlines the lead story about a historic AFL-CIO convention in Atlantic City.
• “No retreat in ’58, Reuther tells AFL-CIO” recounts the former UAW president’s convention speech, attacking proposals to freeze wages and abolish the 40-hour workweek.
Or maybe it wasn’t that different after all.
This December, the UAW flagship publication — which goes to more than 1 million active and retired members — turns 50.
Its debut replaced The United Automobile Worker, known as the Auto Worker, and formerly the union’s weekly publication since 1935. In its final issue, the Auto Worker ran a story headlined, “Auto Worker era at end; weekly Solidarity due next.”
The story said the first issue of Solidarity, an eight-page weekly, would offer an updated look and broader content. The name change was based on a growing union and membership.
“The UAW has embraced two other great industries — aircraft and agricultural implement. The paper’s old name no longer represented the realities,” the story added.
Today’s Solidarity covers stories reflecting an even more diverse membership, further evidence the name change of 50 years ago was right on target.
28
The age, in 1935, of a visionary Ford worker who went on to lead the UAW as president and would have turned 100 this year: Walter P. Reuther.
30,000
In 1936 the total number of UAW members one year after the Auto Worker was launched.
16
The total number of written UAW contracts that same year.
