Establishment of the UAW

The United Auto Workers (UAW), which is short for The United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union, was founded in 1935 in Detroit Michigan with the support of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). It achieved an initial victory through the organization of several sit-down strikes, namely in an Atlanta General Motors plant and in the Flint sit-down strike. It was in 1937 that the UAW strike against GM ended with this company's decision to recognize the UAW. Since then, the UAW has worked to obtain better working conditions, wages, and benefits for its workers from the companies that employ them.