The history of Detroit’s decline: are communists to blame? Or not?

By COMREDA: Explore business, marketing, scandals, intrigues, and investigations through the lens of the content marketing agency project KOMREDA: https://komreda.ru/
The text is published with the permission of COMREDA.
The original text is here.

How one person’s ideas can destroy an entire city and strangle the auto industry throughout the country

…

Hey, it’s KOMREDA: Stories. We’re actually a content marketing agency, but we tell stories just for fun.

In 2013, Detroit was declared bankrupt with debts of $18.5 billion. It’s the largest American city ever to file for bankruptcy.

Today in this article, we’ll tell you:

• how Henry Ford sent the wrong person to the USSR and thereby killed the entire automobile industry in the USA;
  .
• why all the problems stem from childhood;
  .
• why using sledgehammers and stickers against competitors is necessary.
  
  It’ll be packed, we promise.

The main culprit.

Meet Walter Reuther — the highest-paid mechanic at the Ford plant.

…

In the 1930s, Walter organized the UAW (The United Auto Workers) — a union for automobile industry workers, which ultimately contributed to Detroit’s downfall.

Why did Walter decide to help the workers?

From a young age, Walter and his brothers were instilled with ideas of equality, brotherhood, and a world of broad opportunities for everyone. Every Sunday, their father organized debates for his sons to reflect on social issues: yellow journalism, child labor, civil rights, and the rights of women and black people. Quote:

On my father's knees, we studied the philosophy of the labor movement. We are confronted every day with the struggles, hopes, and aspirations of the working class.

At the age of 19, Walter got a job at the Ford plant and quickly rose in his career and salary. When he was 21, Ford offered him and his brother Victor to go to the USSR for 3 years and teach Russians how to work. Ford had sold its automobile assembly line technology to the Soviet Union, and someone had to show them how to use it.

…

In the USSR, Walter was shocked. People worked in half-destroyed factories, lived in unheated barracks, ate poorly, while the management lived in luxury and didn’t care about any improvements in the factories. Walter even wrote letters to various committees and to the Moscow Daily News, an English-language socio-political newspaper, criticizing how the communists managed the factories.

Walter lasted in Russia for almost two years and snapped. He took his brother Victor, bicycles, and went on a tour. On bicycles. From Nizhny Novgorod to Japan. On bicycles! He said he wanted to see how people worked in other countries. The irresponsible Soviet people really got to him. By the way, before arriving in Nizhny Novgorod, the brothers also cycled all over Europe.

Later, Walter said that the trip taught him a lot. He said:

All people on earth crave simple things: jobs with certain guarantees, vast opportunities for their children, and, of course, freedom. We feel that we can contribute to the common cause and help American workers build strong and democratic unions. That's why we joined the labor movement.

Walter’s three-point plan to help American workers:

After returning from his journey to Detroit, Walter decided that if he wanted to help workers in the automobile industry, he needed to go after the top three fattest producers: Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler.

He couldn’t do it alone, so he turned to his brother Roy.

…

Roy also felt deeply for American workers. By the time Walter approached him, Roy was already involved with unions himself, seeking to improve conditions in factories and bring back workers laid off during the Great Depression.

The brothers decided to form a workers’ union. That’s how UAW came into being, with nothing but good intentions. Later, however, all those intentions seemed to vanish somewhere, but more on that later.

Walter’s first strike

So, the target was the top. And Walter decided to start with “Ford”. But simply walking in and causing a stir wouldn’t cut it. So Walter decided to approach from the side — through the “Kelsey-Hayes” plant, which supplied “Ford” with brakes and wheels.

…

Walter learned that “Kelsey-Hayes” wanted to speed up production. And at this plant, workers already occasionally lost fingers, limbs, and sometimes even their lives. They complained that it was difficult to keep up with the constantly increasing production speed. That was the reason for the strike.

Walter sat the workers down. Literally. The workers refused to get up and leave until management spoke with Walter, their representative. Management attempted to enter the plant and remove equipment, but thousands of sympathizers blocked the passage from the outside of the plant.

A strike is the conveyor’s worst nightmare. Everything that goes down the line is products from other productions, where similar conveyors work. And if assembly stops, for example, wheels, then the entire production stops: cars will only be assembled up to the “inserting wheels” stage. And then nothing. There will be no cars, sales will collapse, dealers won’t get goods, managers won’t earn from sales, customers will turn to competitors, and the brand’s reputation will plummet.

…

A halt in the conveyor, even in one spot, immediately disrupts the entire production system. Restoring the operation of all companies requires a lot of time and money.

Let’s remind ourselves that “Kelsey-Hayes” supplied brakes and wheels to “Ford” — a major client that they didn’t want to lose. Therefore, the strike only lasted for 10 days. “Kelsey-Hayes” agreed to slow down production and provide equal pay for women. Additionally, UAW prohibited the company from firing workers who join the union.

Even if these workers were slacking off, drinking, and not showing up to the plant — to fire them, permission from UAW was required.

So now only Walter could decide who to fire and who not to.

After this event, everyone learned about UAW. 200 union members turned into several thousand. And Walter went to other plants to organize even more strikes.

Strike in Flint

When Roy and Victor learned about the victory, they immediately drove to Flint, a suburb of Detroit. And exactly one week after the end of the strike at “Kelsey-Hayes”, they sat down the workers of “General Motors”. It was December 31st.

The workers declared that they would celebrate the New Year at the plant and would sit for as long as necessary until the management made concessions and joined UAW, which had previously saved the workers of “Kelsey-Hayes”.

…

At that time, “General Motors” was the largest automotive corporation in the world, so they could withstand the strike. The management waved off the workers and cut off electricity and heating at the plant. They said, “If you’re going to act up, then so will we.” The workers were freezing, but they didn’t leave the plant.

A few days later, the whole country decided to support the guys from Flint, and sit-down strikes spread across the states.

The police came to the plant in Flint, trying to negotiate. Negotiations were conducted with tear gas and bullets. Meanwhile, Victor drove around in a car, shouting through a megaphone, urging the workers to resist. The workers sprayed the police with water from fire hoses. The temperature outside was -8°C.

The state governor sent 2,000 people from the National Guard. He didn't want to remove the workers from the plant, but to ensure safety.

…

General Motors owned the only plant in the country that produced engines for Chevrolet — their biggest client, from which the main income came. And when this plant also sat down, General Motors surrendered and signed a contract with UAW. The strike in Flint ended 44 days after it began.

Quote from Brother Walter about the Flint strike:

When the guys walked out of the plant, I had never seen such a night, and I probably never will. It was as if the whole country had gained independence, families were reunited for the first time since the start of the strike, children ran into their fathers' arms with tears in their eyes. It was a sea of humanity, where workers no longer felt fear.

A month later, 60,000 Chrysler employees were sitting on the floor. The strike lasted for four weeks. And they too signed a contract with UAW. Two out of three were wearing hats.

The ‘genius’ plan for Uncle Ford

The only one who understood what was going on was Henry Ford. He was against unions. To prevent workers from joining them, he empowered his security guards to roam the factories and ‘physically punish’ anyone who mentioned their rights or joining the UAW. This happened rarely because Ford’s workers labored at the most comfortable plant in Detroit and earned three to five times more than others. Therefore, they valued their jobs and understood that if they acted up, they would be fired. And somewhere else would be much worse, and even the UAW wouldn’t help.

Walter understood that everything was very well organized at Ford’s factories. And there was also a mini-army of three thousand security guards. It wouldn’t be possible to just storm the factory and cause a commotion. A plan was needed.

Two months after the strike at Chrysler, Walter invited friends and journalists to the Ford factory. There he simply handed out leaflets and called on them to join the happy 300,000 workers from other plants.

…

Ford’s security guards didn’t bother Walter and his company. So what if they were handing out leaflets? Nothing else happened—workers just took the papers and went back to work.

Movement was needed—Walter took two more UAW leaders and tried to force their way through the gate to get onto the factory grounds. But this couldn’t be done. Handing out leaflets was questionable, but okay. But no one invited him onto the actual premises.

For attempting to enter without an invitation, Ford’s security guards roughed up Walter and his friend, leaving them with bloody faces.

…

Walter Reuther (left) and Richard Frankensteen (right, also from the top of UAW). As you can see, Richard got much worse, but the press only wrote about Walter.

In essence, Walter just got his nose broken a bit, but the press really tried hard and solidified Walter’s title as the man who fights for workers’ rights to the last drop of blood.

The press started going all out against Henry Ford. Earlier, in 1932, there was the Hunger March—a procession of 5,000 people, which the headlines dubbed as the “Ford Massacre.” The press wrote then that the Hunger March started peacefully, but when the procession approached the Ford plant, they were met with clubs and bullets. Five workers died. Henry Ford took a beating from the press back then.

…

Walter got it from the security guards in 1938. Only six years had passed—the hunger march was still fresh in memory, and Ford was attacking people again. It didn’t matter that UAW provoked it themselves. So Walter’s broken nose was carried like a red flag. They wrote something like, “Workers of all countries, unite, or Ford will do the same to you.”

Ford tried to defend himself however he could. Four years after the provocation, he also accepted UAW’s conditions.

First closed plant in Detroit

UAW brought down the biggest manufacturers and gradually began to control smaller factories.

While the big three could withstand strikes because they could compete and make money selling cars, Packard couldn’t. First, UAW shut down several factories supplying parts to Packard, and then the Packard workers themselves went on strike. As a result, the factory closed in 1958, leaving 40 thousand workers jobless.

…

The factory still looks like this to this day. It’s gradually being demolished, but not very actively.

The building in the city center has turned into a huge abandoned area, attracting all the “undesirable” population of the city.

It can be said that the closure of "Packard" became a symbol of the impending collapse.

After the factory closure, those left without jobs began to leave the city abruptly. Only those who were extremely impoverished remained—mostly African Americans. With no work available, the situation worsened with the presence of white-hooded figures exacerbating tensions. Street protests, riots, police sirens, and increased military presence became more frequent for safety measures.

…

The final nails in Detroit’s coffin came from the Germans, the Japanese, and the UAW

Factories were slowing down, workers were being laid off, but some still remained. They had to work, they had to earn money. But in the 1950s, car sales suddenly plummeted, not because people lacked money, but because foreign cars appeared in the States, and manufacturers faced competition from other countries for the first time.

The first foreign car for Americans was the Volkswagen Beetle. It was several times cheaper and consumed less fuel. Americans saw the tremendous demand for the Beetle and tried to compete somehow. But the workers, who couldn’t be fired, didn’t care about the quality of their work, and unreliable and crooked cars often came out from under their hands. The cost of maintaining an American car skyrocketed—cars cost tens of thousands of dollars, consumed 6 gallons per hundred miles, often broke down, and parts were also expensive, not to mention that fuel prices went up.

…

People wanted cheap ordinary cars. The American automotive industry understood that it needed to change. But UAW hung over them and prohibited doing anything that could negatively affect the workers’ comfort, even if it meant preserving the industry.

And they couldn't care less that without the industry, there would be no workers, no Detroit, and no UAW itself.

Manufacturers tried to beg UAW for permission to restructure the assembly lines, production, and come up with new cars. But UAW refused and decided to be cunning. They engaged in propaganda to turn the population against foreign competitors. For instance, they bought Japanese cars, displayed them in public squares, and handed out sledgehammers to passersby. Yes, you read that right. To smash the cars.

…

People fell for the propaganda. And smashing cars didn’t just happen in public squares. It became normal to wake up in the morning and find out that your Japanese car had been stolen, vandalized, or set on fire. Not because you were a bad person, but because you bought the wrong car.

Laid-off factory workers were told that it was all the fault of the Japanese. They came and disrupted the American economy, rather than acknowledging that there were no jobs because UAW prohibited anything that could compete in the market, like reconfiguring assembly lines.

UAW members were even given bumper stickers reminding them of Pearl Harbour…

…

“Those same people who brought you Pearl Harbor brought you this. Be an American — buy American.”

And here it is, a little more minimalist:

…

Germans and Japanese were capturing the market so quickly that at some point even the American government stepped in. They issued a decree that reduced the volume of imported foreign cars. Upon seeing this, Honda and Toyota… built their own factory near Detroit. And UAW couldn’t infiltrate there because the factory operated under Japanese conditions, and union rules didn’t apply to them.

Manufacturers couldn't do anything against their competitors. They missed the market, and UAW didn't give them the opportunity to recover.

Workers didn’t want to work, UAW prevented restructuring of production and reallocating resources, car sales were weak, and automakers were running out of money. Factories were closing, jobs were being cut.

The city saw more and more abandoned buildings and closed businesses (not just automotive ones). The number of unemployed people was also increasing, and criminal gangs and drug trafficking were on the rise. Those who couldn’t leave had to find a way to live and make money.

…

Mostly marginalised and predominantly African American population remained in the city, organizing gangs. In the 70s, they almost entirely controlled local drug trafficking, which was growing due to heroin and cocaine epidemics. The city was then dubbed the murder and violence capital. This destroyed urban tourism, and other countries even issued warnings about Detroit for travelers. There could be no talk of reviving the status of the automotive industry king.

Frequent strikes shook protest sentiments among people. They were used to achieving their goals through undemocratic methods. Perhaps if it weren’t for this, Detroit would be different now.

And now Detroit is like this: life exists only in the downtown area. Buildings are being rebuilt there, cultural people are being attracted to turn the city into an art capital, and many sports competitions are being held, attended by tens of thousands of people. But the population talks about Detroit as if all the rebuilt and entertaining aspects are just facades for the sake of facades, and in essence, the government is not doing much to bring the city into order.

…

Beyond downtown, almost no one lives there; everything is destroyed, abandoned, and looks grim. There are areas where even the police don’t go. Ordinary people carry weapons in their pockets because they fear for their lives.

In the 1950s, the best time for Detroit, almost 2 million people lived in the city. After the Packard plant closed, people started leaving, and the population was decreasing every year. Now only 630,000 people remain in Detroit.

Bottom line

The main reason for the decline of Detroit is usually attributed to the UAW and Walter Reuther. If we judge Walter based on what we’ve written above, then his activities raise questions in some places. But what doesn’t raise questions?

• He devised a plan for Roosevelt to produce 500 aircraft per day through automobile factories, thus aiding in World War II.

• He persuaded Kennedy to create an organization that would later become the Peace Corps.

• He assisted Martin Luther King Jr. in marches against racism and spoke alongside him at the same microphone.

• He discussed civil rights legislation with Kennedy.

• He donated $50,000 from the UAW to striking sanitation workers, which was the largest financial contribution from any external source.

• He established the Department of Conservation and promoted environmental ideas, urging the purification of water, air, landfills, and slums, and advocated for creating “a common habitat worthy of free people.”

• He funded the first Earth Day, printed and distributed all necessary materials, and mobilized UAW members to participate in public demonstrations across the country.

…

And here’s another ambiguous fact: Walter, while advocating for workers’ rights, doesn’t seem to have been a communist because he fought against communist views within the UAW and expelled openly communist members from there. He even met with Khrushchev to discuss the fight against communism.

But! Despite this, Walter was constantly accused of being a communist, and there is evidence of his close friendly and financial ties with the Communist Party USA, which supported all of his activities and openly declared it. Walter vehemently denied his connections, but he began to deny them only when communists in the United States became sharply disliked.

That’s Walter Reuther for you. But you can draw your own conclusions 🙂

If you liked the text, you can order one for your company.

At KOMREDA Agency, we create blogs, media content, special projects, social media content, and much more. And in our Telegram channel, we share tips on building profitable content marketing strategies.

By COMREDA: Explore business, marketing, scandals, intrigues, and investigations through the lens of the content marketing agency project KOMREDA: https://komreda.ru/
The text is published with the permission of COMREDA.
The original text is here.