1945–1946 General Motors strike
| 1945-46 United Auto Workers strike | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | November 21, 1945 – March 13, 1946 | ||
| Location | |||
| Goals | Wage increases of 17.5% an hour, paid vacations, overtime | ||
| Methods | Strikes, Demonstrations | ||
| Parties | |||
| Number | |||
| |||
From November 21, 1945, to March 13, 1946 (113 days), CIO's United Automobile Workers (UAW), organized "320,000 hourly workers" to form a nationwide strike against General Motors, workers used the tactic of the sit down strike. It was "the longest strike against a major manufacturer" that the UAW had yet seen, and it was also "the longest national GM strike in its history".
As director of the UAW's General Motors Department (coordinator of union relations with GM),: 21–22 Walter Reuther suggested to his colleagues the idea of striking the GM manufacturing plants with a 'one-at-a-time' strategy, which was "intended to maximize pressure on the target company." Reuther also put forth the demands of the strikers: a 30 percent increase in wages and a hold on product prices. However, the strike ended to the dissatisfaction of Walter Reuther and the UAW, and the workers received only a 17.5-percent increase in wages. However, the strike also earned Reuther more prominence within the UAW, and he was soon afterwards elected UAW President.