Disruption in Detroit: Autoworkers and the Elusive Postwar Boom

by Daniel J. Clark

It is a bedrock American the 1950s were a golden age of prosperity for autoworkers. Flush with high wages and enjoying the benefits of generous union contracts, these workers became the backbone of a thriving blue-collar middle class. It is also a myth. Daniel J. Clark began by interviewing dozens of former autoworkers in the Detroit area and found a different story--one of economic insecurity caused by frequent layoffs, unrealized contract provisions, and indispensable second jobs. Disruption in Detroit is a vivid portrait of workers and an industry that experienced anything but stable prosperity. As Clark reveals, the myths--whether of rising incomes or hard-nosed union bargaining success--came later. In the 1950s, ordinary autoworkers, union leaders, and auto company executives recognized that although jobs in their industry paid high wages, they were far from steady and often impossible to find.

Genres: Labor

266 pages, Paperback

Published September 14, 2018

Reviews

[Shaun Richman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, focused intervention into an unquestioned narrative of post-war affluence. Between parts shortages, uneven consumer demand and job actions throughout the supply chain, many Detroit auto workers spent too much time laid off to actually enjoy rising living standards. Between this and Jeremy Milloy’s “Blood, Sweat and Fear” one wonders if these jobs that policy makers are nostalgic for we’re ever all that good for the workers themselves.