Zinn, OWS, CoL49

[Ian Livingston]

"The idea [of the sit-down strike] spread through 1936.  In December
of that year began the longest sit-down strike of all, at Fisher Body
plant #1 in Flint, Michigan. It started when two brothers were fired,
and  it lasted until February, 1937 For forty days there was a
community of two thousand strikers. 'It was like a war,' one said, The
guys with me became my buddies.' Sidney Fine in Sit-Down describes
what happened. Committees organized recreation, information, classes,
a postal service, sanitation. Courts were set up to deal with those
who didn't take their turn washing dishes or who threw rubbish or
smoked where it was prohibited or brought in liquor. The 'punishment'
consisted of extra duties; the ultimate punishment was expulsion from
the plant. A restaurant owner across the street prepared three meals a
day for two thousand strikers. There were classes in parliamentary
procedure, public speaking, history of the labor movement. Graduate
students at the University of Michigan gave courses in journalism and
creative writing...."  --A People's History of the United States, 400.

-- 
"Less than any man have I  excuse for prejudice; and I feel for all
creeds the warm sympathy of one who has come to learn that even the
trust in reason is a precarious faith, and that we are all fragments
of darkness groping for the sun. I know no more about the ultimates
than the simplest urchin in the streets." -- Will Durant