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Since 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.

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Ghost of Walter RuetherSince 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.

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