Detroit, the Auto Industry and
Globalization
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Industrial Era
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Ford, Chrysler, GM
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Turn of century- boom
in auto-production
Rapid expansion of
population, cities and
infrastructures
Mass migration from
south and abroad
The Road to Organized Labor
"The UAW would organize Ford over my dead body." -Henry Ford
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UAW- 1935 Detroit
Flint sit-down Strike 19361937 (GM)
Battle of the overpass
1937 (Ford)
Sit-down strike,
unionization 1937
(Chrysler)
500,000 members
1941, Ford workers win
right to unionize
WWII, no UAW “no strike'
pledge
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1946-1970 1.5 million members
Negotiated wages far above market rates for unskilled
workers
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Effects of 73' oil embargo
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Membership is now around half a million
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Decline in wage and benefit concessions, less
influence of union
Example: average worker costs car companies 70-75
dollars an hour (2002)
Debate: Some blame UAW for the loss of jobs in the
area
Detroit Riots
"...We must come to see that de facto segregation in the North is
just as injurious as the actual segregation in the South."
-Martin Luther King Jr., Detroit, 1963
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Detroit Race Riot
1943
12th Street Riot 1967
Issues behind riot:
discrimination,
housing, black
unemployment rates,
white flight, chronic
police brutality
White Flight
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Middle income white
families flee to
suburbs (started in
50's)
Issues: commuting
(traffic, road
systems), socioeconomic
segregation, sprawl,
urban decay
70's and 80's
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Oil embargo (73) Energy
crises (79) foreign car
makers gain market
share
Loss of 300,000
manufacturing jobs
Competition from foreign
car companies
1970's Oil Shortage
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Average fuel
economy 1973: 13.4
Miles a gallon!!! (21.5
Km for 3.8 liters!)
Gas shortage: drastic
measures taken by
government to curb
oil usage
Which car would you
rather drive during a
time of gas shortage?
Flint and Lansing- Sister cities
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Many factories of the
big three located in
these nearby cities
Have experienced
similar issues
Plight of Flint shown
in Michael Moore's
film “Roger and Me”
1990's
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Role of technology in
manufacturing, foreign
producers more efficient
Wages and benefits still
high
But: increasing
competition from foreign
and domestic producers
Southern US: less
unionization and hence
lower wages
Current Statistics
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8.5% unemployment
(2007)
Severe urban decay, ultrarich suburbs
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80% in Detroit city black,
majority of suburbs white
Detroit: most dangerous
US city, Flint is 7th (Morgan
Quinto press)
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Houses now selling for
less than cars (less than
10,000 )
Winner of most miserable
city in US (Forbes Misery
Measuree), Flint is a close
3rd place
Reputation: Murder capital
of the country (1980's, [
FBI crime statistics ])
Population loss of 1 million
since 50's
Urban Prairie
Urban Prairie
Future of Detroit and Auto industry
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Unionized workers=
unlikely that
manufacturing jobs will
return
Globalization process
will not reverse
Detroit as “the last
American city”
Urban revival projects in
community