UAW Marks 90th Anniversary with New Video Highlighting Legacy of Struggle and Victory

Detroit, MI – This year, the United Auto Workers (UAW) celebrates its 90th anniversary. Founded in 1935, the UAW has been at the forefront of the labor movement, winning historic gains for working people and standing at the center of major struggles for civil rights, social justice, and economic fairness.

To mark the occasion, the union has released a new video highlighting the UAW’s nine decades of bold action—from the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936 to the Stand Up Strike of 2023 and beyond. The video lifts up the UAW’s proud tradition of fighting for fair wages, strong benefits, dignity on the job, and broader social and political change that has improved the lives of all working-class Americans.

“Our members have always understood that our fight is bigger than any one contract or workplace,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “For 90 years, the UAW has taken on billionaires and corporate power, and we’ve raised the standards for the entire working class. Our mission remains to fight the bosses, build worker power, and win a better world for working people.”

The full video is available here.

UAW 90th Anniversary Video Script

They said it couldn’t be done. But in 1935, autoworkers came together to form the United Auto Workers. Just a year later, they took bold action and changed American history when they launched the 1936 Flint sit-down strike. For 44 days, they refused to leave the GM plants until their voices were heard. Their actions set off a wave of strikes nationwide, igniting a new industrial labor movement.

From those first bold strikes to the Stand-Up Strike of 2023, the UAW has never stopped fighting. We won what no one thought possible: good wages, health care, pensions, a voice on the job, and dignity at work. We didn’t just raise the floor for autoworkers—we raised the bar for working-class Americans.

And we didn’t stop at the workplace. We marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Detroit’s Walk to Freedom, helped organize the March on Washington, and stood with him in Memphis in 1968. We fought alongside Nelson Mandela and the people of South Africa—pushing for sanctions against apartheid when others stayed silent. And we’ve stayed true to these same principles — whether in South Africa, Palestine, or beyond.

We stood with César Chávez and the United Farm Workers, joined the fight for women’s rights, and defended immigrant workers. We backed the G.I. Bill for returning veterans, helped pass the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and fought for the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.

When trade deals like NAFTA threatened our jobs, we sounded the alarm, and we have remained vigilant in fighting to protect our communities and our jobs. When the auto industry was on the brink in 2009, we sacrificed to save it—and then fought to win back what was ours. 

Today, as billionaires try to take more and make us settle for less, the UAW is on the rise again: We’re organizing higher education, battery plants, and new sectors of the economy. Winning record contracts at Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, Daimler Truck, Cornell University, and more. And proving—once again—that nothing moves without workers.

Ninety years in, our fight is far from over. But our spirit? Unbreakable. UAW. A fighting spirit. Since 1935.