"March 7 was the 77th anniversary of one of the bloodiest chapters in Detroit labor history: the Ford Hunger March of 1932....Two years later the crisis deepened; one statistic showed four Detroiters dying of hunger every day. Unemployment compensation did not exist. With two-thirds of his employees laid off, Henry Ford, then the richest man in the world, said the unemployed created their own misery by not working hard enough." - Martha Grevatt, The Ford Hunger March of 1932
The funeral procession for those killed in the Ford Hunger March.
Three victims of the violence at the Ford Hunger March.
A flyer calling workers to participate in the Ford Hunger March.
With the arrival of the Great Depression, demand for vehicles decreased. Ford reduced his workers' wages and began layoffs. The Ford Hunger March that took place in 1932 was a rebellion against this unfair treatment.
Bill McKie, a member of the Unemployed Councils (part of the United Auto Workers) spoke out, describing the changes they wanted made at the Ford factory.
“Jobs for all laid off Ford workers; immediate payment of 50 per cent of full wages; seven-hour day without reduction in pay; slowing down of deadly speedup; two fifteen-minute rest periods; No discrimination against Negroes in jobs; relief, medical service; free medical aid in Ford hospital for employed and unemployed Ford workers and families; five tons of coal and coke for the winter; abolition of Service Men; no foreclosures on homes of Ford workers; immediate payment of lump sum of fifty dollars for winter relief; full wages for part time workers; abolition of the graft system of hiring; and the right to organize.” - Bill McKie, Brother Bill McKie: Building the Union at Ford by Philip Bonosky
The cover of Brother Bill McKie: Building the Union at Ford by Philip Bonosky. In the quote, Bill McKie gives a speech explaining the workers' demands.