The Motor City is a Union Town
Photo by Roland Arhelger, via Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Discover Detroit’s rich labor history on a 90-minute walking tour hosted by the Michigan Labor History Society!
If you’ll be in Detroit on Sunday, come explore notable labor landmarks as we honor the workers who made the Motor City the beating heart of the American labor movement. Tours depart from the Joe Louis statue inside the Huntington Place lobby on SUNDAY, JUNE 14 at 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM. Wear your walking shoes!
Your UAW Guide to Detroit
You’ll notice a lot of construction in Detroit while getting around town to attend the 39th UAW Constitutional Convention – and that’s a good thing. Motown is America’s Comeback City. Residences and businesses are popping up quick as potential residents and tourists are looking at the city anew. New hotels, apartment buildings, restaurants, transportation and just about anything else you can think of are changing the city’s landscape.
One thing that hasn’t changed is that Detroit is a union town. We’re proud that unions built this city and play a key role in its stunning turnaround. You will feel right at home. Detroit is the home of the UAW headquarters, just three miles east of the convention center on East Jefferson Avenue. The domestic automakers, Stellantis, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. — retain their headquarters in the area, with GM a stone’s throw away at the Renaissance Center, Ford at its home in Dearborn, and Stellantis a short drive to the north in Auburn Hills, Michigan. All three automakers have many facilities in the city and the suburbs.
Detroit sits largely in UAW Region 1, which covers the east side of Detroit, several nearby counties and parts of Ontario, Canada, just beyond the Detroit River.
Of course, we’re proud that our membership includes autoworkers who produce just about everything from award-winning cars and trucks to many other innovative automotive products and parts. But we’re not just limited in membership to the auto industry. Just a short distance away from the convention center are the Greektown, Motor City and MGM Grand Detroit casinos, where dealers, servers and other workers are proud UAW members. If you head to Dearborn’s Greenfeld Village, one of the area’s most popular attractions with 80 acres of historic structures and demonstrations showing the entrepreneurial spirit of America’s history, you’ll find that the artisans there are UAW members. The popular Henry Ford Museum is also nearby.
Many public workers in city government in Detroit and nearby suburbs share UAW membership with you. Our members also include State of Michigan workers, librarians, and academic workers at Wayne State and Oakland universities. We work for health care organizations such as Health Alliance Plan, Delta Dental, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network. Our members are librarians with the Detroit Public Libraries, and referees and lawyers in nearby Warren. Our ranks include skilled maintenance workers at the Roberts Riverwalk Hotel in Detroit, lawyers with Wayne County’s Friend of the Court, and a host of technical, office and professional workers and other proud UAW members in and around the city. Together, we’re helping to remake Detroit, while reminding people that good-paying jobs that help support families are critical to this city renaissance. Enjoy your stay!
Getting Around Detroit
Planning Ahead Can Avoid Headaches
Like any large American city – particularly one with so much new construction going on – Detroit can be a challenge to get around. But knowing where you’re going and how to get there in advance of your trip can avoid unnecessary delays.
New to Detroit is the Q-Line, a 3.3-mile circulating streetcar along Woodward Avenue between Congress Street and West Grand Boulevard, with stops in the Downtown, Midtown and New Center areas. Go to qlinedetroit.com to plan your ride. There are plenty of restaurants and other attractions along the Q-Line. Riding the Q-Line is free. It connects to regional and city bus service, as well as the Detroit People Mover.
What’s the People Mover? As you look outside the convention center, notice that train running a continuous loop over downtown streets? That’s the Detroit People Mover, a fully automated light rail system that operates on an elevated single-track loop in Detroit’s central business district. The trains stop for passengers at 13 structures, including Huntington Place. Take the full loop and the ride offers a sensational view of the Detroit River with Windsor, Canada, on the other side. The General Motors building, down the street from Huntington Place, is another stop. If you’re staying at the Marriott Renaissance Center or the Downtown Courtyard by Marriott, you’re on the People Mover route. The train also snakes its way to other popular local downtown spots such as Greektown – a hot downtown spot for eating and entertainment, Comerica Park, where the Detroit Tigers play, and many other attractions. Seventy-five cents gets you on board and you can ride as long as you want.
Regular weekday operating hours are 8 a.m. to midnight. It runs 8 a.m. – 9.m. on Sunday. All vehicles and stations are handicap accessible, and each vehicle has two secure wheelchair areas. Go to thepeoplemover.com for additional information.
