Sit Down and Fight

Marking the 40th anniversary of the death of auto union giant Walter Reuther, this PBS-aired American Experience documentary from filmmaker Charlotte Zwerin examines the epic labor-organizing battles that took place in the automobile plants, struggles which changed American life and politics in ways that still reverberate today. Henry Ford, who amassed great wealth in the early decades of the 20th century, created the famed assembly line, an efficient but dehumanizing process that gave employers control over everything, including bathroom breaks. During the Great Depression, as workers faced unemployment and bread lines, it took moral and physical courage to confront the country's car-manufacturing giants, which enjoyed the support of politicians and judges and didn't hesitate to use armed goon squads and private security armies to break up any sign of union activity. Combining archival clips and photos, news accounts, personal recollections, and interviews with historians, the documentary describes the sit-down strikes workers used to essentially hold the means of production hostage, as employees occupied factory floors while wives and girlfriends picketed outside. Reuther (via tape-recordings) and others recall the efforts not only to boost pay but to improve working conditions and narrow the wage disparity between men and women. Sit Down and Fight also discusses the political rifts in the turbulent 1930s and '40s, including efforts to support labor while controlling the influence of radicals and Communists. In the end, the auto workers enjoyed a resounding—although temporary—victory, helping to lay the groundwork for later advances in the civil and equal rights movements. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)