A history of Local 212 UAW-CIO, 1937-1949: The Briggs Manufacturing Company, Detroit, Michigan.

Abstract

This dissertation traces the history of United Automobile Workers Local 212 from its founding in 1937 until 1949. UAW Local 212 represented workers in several factories operated by the Briggs Manufacturing Company, an independent auto body manufacturer headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. This study focuses specifically on factional political struggles in the local, the local's leadership, and the rank-and-file members of the union. Local 212 was an extremely factional body, with virtually all of its elections bitterly contested by two competing groups. Factors explaining this factionalism include plant rivalries, day-to-day conflicts between local leaders, personality conflicts, and ideology. Over the course of many elections, the promise factional leaders that most consistently won votes from rank-and-file union members was a pledge to end factionalism. The data consists of both demographic and shop-floor information. Demographic data was collected on over 2,500 individuals, and analysis of it suggests that the rate of change among local leaders was high, in contrast to the stability among leaders that many other studies have assumed. Shop floor data consists of 2,821 grievances filed between 1937 and 1943. This database provides a basis for a delineation of the job conditions about which workers complained. The most frequent complaints concerned wages and seniority, however the most consistent complaints over time involved management and working conditions. In its treatment of the rank-and-file members of the union, the dissertation pays special attention to Black and women workers at Briggs and concludes that Local 212 was very liberal in its attitude towards both groups. Finally, the implications of Local 212's history are explored in relationship to the international union of which it was such an important part.