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This week's readings: Chapter 6 "Forget about Your Inalienable Right to Work": Responses to Industrial Decline and Discrimination and a recap of Part Two "Rust"
I struggled with the reading last week, but this week, Chapter 6 pulled it all together for me. Rather than just seeing disparate strings of data and anecdotes, Chapter 6 wove together the various threads, and a tapestry is unfolding; a tapestry that shows not just the history of deindustrialization in Detroit, but a picture of what could happen again if a new approach is not tried. There is so much to unpack in this entire section, "Rust"; here are some of the key elements that I think must be understood before moving on to Part Three, "Fire". As always, I welcome your added insights and thoughts in the comments.
To me, one of the key points that Sugrue makes throughout Part Two is that our understanding of the beginnings of deindustrialization starts about two decades too late. Most casual observers point to the '70s and '80s as a time marked by the decline of industry, while Sugrue provides evidence that the decline started shortly after the end of WWII. Our images of the '50s as the "Happy Days", carefree and affluent in a way no one ever imagined, are not altogether inaccurate, but Sugrue argues that at the same time, the seeds of the destruction of that carefree, affluent lifestyle were being sown. E.g.:
1. The '50s saw the emergence of corporate decentralization, especially by the automakers. By relocating plants in suburban and rural areas of Michigan, as well as throughout the country, the automakers had a tool to not only control costs, but to weaken powerful union locals.
2. The increasing use of automation in the auto industry was another openly-acknowledged way to reduce the influence of the unions and to specifically punish those union locals known for the activism and militancy.
3. Overtime was used more and more (a new trend in labor policy), often with the support of the rank-and-file, who saw their wages increase substantially. However, it "diluted union strength by reducing membership" (p. 142 my edition) and reduced the overall work force due to the reduction in new hires.
4. All of these changes impacted the African-American community the most, as black workers were most often unable to move to follow jobs (redlining and restrictive covenants were still in place); restricted to the lesser-skilled positions (eliminated by automation); and least likely to be hired into new positions that were available (discrimination was still the norm).
Although Sugrue is consistently critical of corporations (especially the automakers) and their ongoing efforts to be responsive to shareholders while undermining the rights of workers, he does not let unions (especially the UAW) off the hook. While he highlights the efforts of militant locals like Local 600, the River Rouge local, the international UAW was often far more complacent about and complicit in (albeit unintentionally) corporate efforts to weaken unions:
1. The UAW international office did not support Local 600s lawsuit against Ford, when the Rouge local claimed that Ford's decentralization policy was effectively a breach of contract, and that further, the decentralization policy was detrimental to the public good.
Implicit in the suit against Ford was a call for the extension of the realm of corporate responsibility from everyday behavior to economic power. The suit challenged the assumption that the company's obligation to shareholders was greater than that to its employees. (page 161 my edition)
The suit was dismissed, and the judge that dismissed the suit used the fact that the UAW International did not join the suit as part of his rationale for claiming that the contract was valid and not breached by the relocation of jobs from the Rouge plant.
2. Sugrue shows time and again that union leaders took middle-ground positions, emphasizing incremental gains in wages and benefits and cementing job classifications, through collective bargaining. (For insight into the focus on wages and classifications, see this: "An Economic 'Frankenstein'": UAW Workers’ Response to Automation at the Ford Brook Park Plant in the 1950s) Even changes supported by some locals (e.g. 30-for-40, a thirty-hour work week for forty hours of pay as a means to stem job loss, was an idea supported and promoted by Local 600) were not embraced by UAW International until years after the initial proposal. "Big picture" issues such as hiring discrimination and plant relocations were generally viewed as the unassailable responsibility and right of the corporation. "The reluctance of the UAW International (and most other unions) to challenge sacrosanct business practices limited the possibilities of resistance to deindustrialization." (pp. 162-163 my edition)
3. The unions, and again the UAW in particular, did not work in a historical vacuum. During the 1950s, the Korean War was waged, and McCarthyism raged. Accusations of un-Americanism and communism were leveled at left-leaning groups and individuals. Local 600, the militant and radical, left-led UAW local of the River Rouge plant, became a victim at the hands of the UAW International. In 1952, the local was taken into trusteeship, in part because five of its officers were suspected Communist party members. It is likely that this move was also made because the local had been an ongoing thorn in the side to the International office, but in removing the left-led leadership, the voices of moderation and incrementalism won a victory over the voices of militancy and radicalism which were engaged in critiques well beyond day-to-day bread and butter issues.
Lastly, Sugrue addresses the roles of civic and governmental groups in the battle against deindustrialization; the [failed] attempts at reindustrialization; the focus on grooming a work force desirable to industry; and how, ultimately, the loss of employment and tax base set the stage for an explosive future. Much of this work by government and civic organizations was based on assumptions that were at best, incomplete, and at worst, altogether faulty. The assumptions which drove decision-making tended to address symptoms, and structural and systemic issues were unrecognized or disregarded:
1. Sugrue points out that, "...Detroit's city government embarked on a policy of trying to work within the constraints of the 'free market.'" (p. 164 my edition) Effectively this meant that instead of governmental attempts to regulate corporate policies of decentralization and relocation (the "stick" approach), the city tried to lure business to the city with tax breaks and land ready for use (the "carrot" approach). For example, automakers had come to prefer plants that were one-story (rather than the old multi-story plants that were being abandoned in Detroit) which required more land to build. Detroit's city government assumed that if only sufficient ready-to-build-land was made available to the automakers and related industries, they would return to the city. Reindustrialization plans were developed, which included creating "industrial corridors"; rundown neighborhood housing was to be demolished to create these precursors to the industrial park. Neighborhood resistance was high, and the plans held no guarantee that industry would be willing to construct new plants. Mostly, however, the plans were ineffective because they assumed that land was the problem, rather than considering the overall corporate desire to relocate to reduce costs, increase profit, and diminish the power of unions.
2. Civic organizations like the Detroit Urban League (DUL) did not see industrial flight as the major cause of unemployment; instead, they believed, particularly with the increase of automation, there was an education and training gap which resulted in high black unemployment.
They began with the assumption that lower-class black were unemployable, and thus emphasized the development of personal skills and the modification of individual behavior, rather than job creation. (p. 167 my edition)
Programs for the displaced or young worker started with the premise that "self-improvement was the first step toward gainful employment" (p. 168) and assumed that "the problem of joblessness was primarily one of individual skills, not the fundamental restructuring of industry." (p. 176)
3. Additionally, as the most important black employment agency in Detroit, the DUL decided to focus their efforts on "...'breakthrough' jobs for well-educated and highly skilled blacks." (p. 166 my edition) In lieu of direct confrontation, the efforts to breach the color barrier were handled through behind-the-scene, often lengthy, negotiations with employers. They viewed opening "pioneer" jobs for blacks as a key element of civil rights, as it would encourage "'public acceptance of the Negro both as a citizen and as a worker.'" (p. 166) In fact, for most African-American reform organizations, there was an assumption that by "improving the job opportunities for professionals and skilled workers, they would uplift the entire race." (p. 176) This racialized view had advantages and disadvantages. Although a focus on racial discrimination provided a common cause for working- and middle-class African Americans, it ignored the structural and systemic causes of poverty, and the poor were largely left marginalized and voiceless. Class barriers were being erected; chronic unemployment, especially among young African Americans, continued unchecked; and Detroit was on the verge of becoming a battleground.
Additional reading suggestions:
Detroit and Deindustrialization Relatively short read and quite pertinent.
Introduction to Crumbling Cultures: Deindustrialization, Class, and Memory Very academic and lengthy, but worth the read for a different perspective.
How a Progressive Tax System Made Detroit a Powerhouse Tangentially related to Sugrue's work, but another worthwhile read (and worthy of its own diary, if someone feels inclined).
Next week's reading: Part Three, Fire: Chapter 7 Class, Status, and Residence: The Changing Geography of Black Detroit and Chapter 8 "Homeowners' Rights": White Resistance and the Rise of Antiliberalism
Links to previous diaries, by request: Week 1 here, Week 2 here. Week 3 here, and Week 4 here.