Bill Text: MI HR0112 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: A resolution to declare June 7, 2017, as Lansing Labor Holiday Remembrance Day in the state of Michigan.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-05-31 - Adopted [HR0112 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2017-HR0112-Enrolled.html
Reps. Schor, Cochran, Singh, Chirkun, Clemente, Elder, Ellison, Faris, Geiss, Greig, Jones, Maturen, Pagan, Rabhi, Sabo, Sneller and Sowerby offered the following resolution:
House Resolution No. 112.
A resolution to declare June 7, 2017, as Lansing Labor Holiday Remembrance Day in the state of Michigan.
Whereas, The labor history of 1930s Michigan is often told from the geographic perspective of Detroit, or of Flint with its iconic sit-down strike. The story of Lansing, Michigan’s Capitol City, is often overlooked and ignored. With its upcoming 80th anniversary in June of 2017, the Lansing Labor Holiday should get the attention that it deserves; and
Whereas, After REO Motors experienced a month-long sit down strike during March/April of 1937, UAW Amalgamated Local 182 was established, bringing the UAW union to the auto shops in the Lansing area and representing roughly 15,000 automotive workers in locations including REO, Olds, Fisher Body, and a number of other workplaces under the leadership of Lester Washburn; and
Whereas, A few weeks later, employees of the Capitol City Wrecking Company voted to join the union and elected officers, but the company fired them and refused to negotiate with them. Several weeks of futile attempts to get a contract and have the fired workers reinstated led to a strike; and
Whereas, At 2:00 a.m. on June 7, 1937, Lansing’s Sheriff Allan McDonald cut the phone lines to the Washburn home and attempted to arrest Mr. Washburn and his wife. Finding only Mrs. Washburn home, the sheriff arrested her and left their three children unattended. Upon returning home Mr. Washburn called a meeting at the union hall where the union decided to call a Labor Holiday, otherwise known as a general strike; and
Whereas, That next work day, in protest of the arrest of Mrs. Washburn, 2,000 to 5,000 union members and sympathizers poured into the downtown streets, shutting down many of the businesses for the day. Meanwhile, Washburn and other union representatives negotiated the release of those imprisoned. At the end of the day the Labor Holiday was over, and before long, Capital City Wrecking negotiated a contract with its workers; and
Whereas, The Lansing Labor Holiday was a rare instance of a mass, spontaneous demonstration by the working class of the City of Lansing to address perceived injustice. To remember the event, the City of Lansing is marking the 80th anniversary by placing a Michigan historical marker remembering this historic event; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the members of this legislative body declare June 7, 2017, as Lansing Labor Holiday Remembrance Day in the state of Michigan. We commemorate the 80th anniversary of this important labor event.
