The Flint Sit Down Strike is widely considered to be a critical turning point in the history of labor laws. The Flint Sit Down Strike took place at the General Motors and Chevrolet Plants around the end of the Great Depression because workers were displeased with how they were being treated by their employers. Workers were underpaid and could not afford to leave their job, were expected to work grueling hours, and were forced to continue working in unsanitary and unsafe conditions. To fight for fair treatment without being fired, employees planned to hold a sit-down strike where employees sat at their work stations and all at once stopped working without moving from their station. Propaganda and other support showing artifacts arose from these strikes, including the Solidarity Forever poster as shown in Figure 1.
Made in 2009 by artist Dylan Miner, Solidarity Forever features what looks to be a linocut printed poster with added type from a letterpress. While not made at the time of the sit down strike as part of the protest, this poster was made to honor and remind us of the significance the strike had in providing safe working conditions and giving rights to workers. This aligns with some of Miner’s other work which serves to remind us of history and our roots as we move forward.
The Solidarity Forever poster includes a birds-eye view of some street layouts which feature a few roads, some General Motors and Chevrolet manufacturing plants, and the infamous Flint River. These elements are represented in an almost mechanical blue-grey with key buildings and the river are clearly named which is likely due to their more prominent involvement in the sit down strike. Many of the buildings listed were key for strikers to occupy as they were General Motors and Chevrolet's main producers for car bodies. Representing these plants in the poster not only indicates their importance to General Motor and Chevrolet, but also a defining key to the strikers success in getting the work conditions they wanted.
Another important feature to note in Figure 1 is the person represented, Roscoe Van Zandt. Roscoe Van Zandt is noted as the only black person to participate in the sit down strike of Chevrolet Plant Four. The significance of including Zandt in this poster is not only because he was the only black person officially recognized on staff in this particular factory, but also due to the significant honor he was given upon the striker’s victory. In a time of intense segregation, the black janitor Roscoe Van Zandt was given the honor of carrying the American flag out of the factory upon victory after 44 days of striking. What is also interesting about this portrait being included is, other than most of the text, Roscoe Van Zandt’s portrait is the only element to be colored a rusted brownish-orange. The rusty color could be indicative of not only informing the viewer of Roscoe Van Zandt’s skin color but also the worn down nature of the motor company employees. Rust occurs in metal as it ages and wears down, spreading especially quickly if the metal is not properly cared for. The same can be said about employees when proper working conditions and fair treatment are denied.
