factory occupations, you know what what better way to disrupt production than to just take over the building in the case of the Flint strike it went on for a few months that they occupied those factories.

That was not the only tactic of course, but that was the most publicly visible one.

And when they won, most observers, workers and other people attributed the victory to the sit-down strike.

We could argue about whether that was really the key thing, but that was certainly how the optic, that's how it looked to everybody.

And there was this epidemic, basically, of sit-down strikes thereafter all over the place, including like retail stores in Detroit. There's this famous

Woolworth strike where the clerks are sitting on the counter and occupying the store.

And so that it just inspired copycat organizing

all over the place.

Why was it so inspiring?

I mean, it's a pretty appealing idea

if you're a worker who's treated terribly by your employer every day that you can just take over the whole enterprise and win rights by doing so. I mean, I guess I think it's as simple as that. Welcome to organize the unorganized,

a podcast from the Center for Work and Democracy at Arizona State University and

Jackman magazine. My name is Benjamin Fong. I'm your host. And on this week's

episode we're going to cover three of the initial major victories of the CIO in rubber,

auto, and steel. Now if you tuned into last week's episode you'll know that one of

the key reasons behind the founding of the CIO was John L Lewis's desire to organize steel.

But the rank and file agitation at the time was in rubber and auto, and that is where the

CIO knew it had to begin.

President of the UAW from 1970 to 1977, Leonard Woodcock.

Sit down in American history means Flint.

The sit-down strike achievement belongs to all American workers.

I can rather workers, for example, have the historic honor of winning the first sit-down

...