Special New Member IssueUnion of All Workers

UAW history & bargaining highlights

1935

— 200 delegates from auto plants all over the United States meet in Detroit for the founding convention of the United Automobile Workers of America.
— President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the National Labor Relations Act strengthening the right of workers to organize unions and bargain collectively.
— AFL issues charter to the UAW.

1936-’37

— UAW launches historic Flint, Mich., sit-down strike at GM Dec. 30. Strike ends Feb. 11, 1937, after GM agrees to negotiate with union.
— Chrysler workers stage sit-downs at all nine Detroit plants to win UAW recognition.

1941

— After striking Ford for 10 days, UAW wins union shop, dues checkoff and grievance procedure in first contract.
— UAW International Executive Board adopts a no strike pledge after war breaks out between the United States and Japan.

1942

— UAW Vice President Walter Reuther proposes converting auto plants to arsenals for democracy to build 500 planes a day.

1944

— First UAW Women’s Conference – UAW is the first union to hold one – calls for full employment and equal pay for women.
— First conference of UAW veterans establishes Veterans Bureau and formulates program for returning GIs.

1946

— Walter Reuther elected fourth UAW president.

1948

— UAW wins first Annual Improvement Factor raise at GM, recognizing workers’ contributions to regular productivity increases, and first union contract containing an escalator clause tied to the cost-of-living index.

1949

— First employer-paid and jointly administered pension program won at Ford Motor Co.

1955

— UAW wins Supplemental Unemployment Benefits at Ford – a first in the industry – as part of an effort to win a guaranteed annual wage for workers.

1961

— At GM, union wins first fully paid hospitalization and sick benefits, and agreement for no discrimination on basis of race, creed, color or national origin.

1963

— UAW is major supporter of the March on Washington, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. UAW lobbies for civil rights law.

1964

— Fully paid hospitalization, surgical and medical insurance won for Big Three retirees.

1970

— Leonard Woodcock becomes fifth UAW president.
— Occupational Safety and Health Act passed; Workers Memorial Day later established to remember those who died on the job.

1973

— 30-and-out at any age negotiated for Big Three workers.

1977

— Douglas A. Fraser elected sixth UAW president.

1982

— UAW wins profit sharing, Guaranteed Income Stream, moratorium on plant closings and company-funded training programs at GM and Ford.

1983

— Owen Bieber elected seventh UAW president.

1985

— More than 22,000 state of Michigan employees join UAW.

1990

— Nelson Mandela receives UAW membership card while visiting members at Dearborn’s Ford Rouge complex following release from prison in South Africa. He expressed appreciation for the union’s aid in fighting apartheid.

1993

— UAW supports and President Clinton signs the Family Medical Leave Act.

1995

— Stephen P. Yokich elected eighth UAW president.

1999

— UAW wins Election Day as paid holiday for Big Three workers.
— More than 10,000 academic student employees across the University of California system vote for UAW representation and 2,600 workers at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo, Ohio join the UAW.

2002

— Ron Gettelfinger elected ninth UAW president.
— Strikes at four Johnson Controls facilities win first contracts, union recognition and neutrality agreement covering 26 plants and 8,000 workers.

2005

— Workers at Thomas Built Buses in North Carolina vote for UAW representation, defeating a Right-To-Work challenge and bringing the total of UAW represented workers in the Freightliner system to 8,000.

2006

— Workers at eight car dealerships (four in Michigan, one in Ohio and three in New York City) vote to join the UAW.
— 40,000 child care workers in Michigan form their own union, in a joint effort with the UAW and AFSCME.

2007

— More than 6,367 casino dealers and slot technicians in Atlantic City, N.J., Evansville, Ind., and Norwich, Conn., vote to join UAW.

— Union bargaining at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler achieves unprecedented product guarantees for active UAW members and secure health care benefits for UAW retired members.

Chrysler workers march out of the Dodge Main plant in Hamtramck, Mich., after a 17-day sit-down strike that began March 8, 1937. Nine Detroit plants were later joined by workers in Los Angeles, New Castle, Ind., and Marysville, Mich.

Our proud heritage

Since it was founded on Aug. 26, 1935, the UAW has been a leader in the fight for progressive policies and programs that have given millions of Americans the opportunity to realize the American Dream.

“Those who came before us fought hard and, in some cases, put their lives on the line to create a better world for us,” said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. “The best way to honor them is to pave the way for those who will come after us.”

The early UAW leadership – including brothers Walter, Victor and Roy Reuther – organized workers to fight for more than another “nickel in the paycheck.” We fought for dignity and respect on the job.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act in 1935, requiring employers to negotiate with duly elected unions.

The UAW was moving full speed ahead. Using sit-down strikes, the union won gains for workers and eventually union recognition at Bendix Corp. in South Bend, Ind., and Kelsey-Hayes Wheel Co. in Detroit.

Then workers courageously took on the world’s biggest and richest corporation: General Motors. The historic 44-day Flint sit-down strike established the UAW as the bargaining representative for tens of thousands of GM workers.

Just weeks later Chrysler recognized the UAW after workers sat down at nine Detroit plants.

Organizing workers at Ford Motor Co. proved tougher and bloodier. Organizers were brutally beaten by company thugs in the 1937 Battle of the Overpass. But the never-give-up force of solidarity triumphed in 1941 when workers struck Ford and won a union contract.

That was just the beginning. Company after company ceded to workers’ demands and recognized the UAW as their representative.

Months after Ford workers organized, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II. All Americans faced a new danger and common enemies.

As men joined the armed forces, the UAW was transformed by thousands of women who worked as Rosie the Riveters and joined the union’s ranks.

After the war, the UAW continued to set bargaining standards for all workers. We were the first to negotiate health insurance for workers and their families, paid vacation time, cost-of-living increases, company-funded pensions, Supplemental Unemployment Benefits, 30-and-out retirement, a paid Election Day holiday and many more contractual landmarks.

The UAW grew to represent workers in aerospace, agricultural implements and other sectors.