Happy Birthday Middle Class

[lame54]

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/75-years-ago-today-first-occupy

December 30th, 2011 12:43 PM
75 Years Ago Today, the First Occupy

By Michael Moore

On this day, December 30th, in 1936 -- 75 years ago today -- hundreds of workers at the General Motors factories in Flint, Michigan, took over the facilities and occupied them for 44 days. My uncle was one of them.

The workers couldn't take the abuse from the corporation any longer. Their working conditions, the slave wages, no vacation, no health care, no overtime -- it was do as you're told or get tossed onto the curb...

...They began their Occupation in the dead of winter. GM cut off the heat and water to the buildings. The police tried to raid the factories several times, to no avail. Even the National Guard was called in.

But the workers held their ground, and after 44 days, the corporation gave in and recognized the UAW as the representative of the workers. It was a monumental historical moment as no other major company had ever been brought to its knees by their employees. Workers were given a raise to a dollar an hour -- and successful strikes and occupations spread like wildfire across the country. Finally, the working class would be able to do things like own their own homes, send their children to college, have time off and see a doctor without having to worry about paying. In Flint, Michigan, on this day in 1936, the middle class was born.

[ixion]

1. R.I.P. Middle Class, we hardly knew ye.

[onehandle]

2. If the Middle Class was so great we'd still have one.

Surrender to the age of Serfdom, peasants.