- The Women's Emergency Brigade, United Auto Workers Strike, Flint, Mich., 1937. They battled the militia, were gassed as they broke factory windows to get air to their tear-gassed men, and diverted police to a decoy building while another more crucial plant was quietly occupied. 125,000 workers took part in the long sit-down strike that put the UAW on the map. Previously their women co-workers and relatives were only auxiliary members, providing first aid and food. Without previous political or organizing experience, they formed the Brigade, marching in berets and armbands (red for Flint, green for Detroit), linking arms and singing. When not marching and fighting, they worked day and night to provide food, clothes, medical supplies, reading matter, lamps, etc. to strikers. The Brigade was a deciding factor in the historic labor victory. In 1977, they held a 40-year reunion. "With Babies and Banners," a 1978 film by The Women's Labor History Film Project, documents the Brigade story.
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