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The 1937 United Auto Workers sit-down strike at General Motors lasted 44 days.
General Motors, or GM, was the economic engine that drove
the city. But in the second half of the century, the automotive
company downsized its operations. Unemployed workers looked
outside of Flint for work. Businesses were losing customers, and
they too packed up and left town. Social conditions also changed.
Many White residents left when laws changed the racial makeup of
their neighborhoods. Flint’s population dropped 18 percent between
2000 and 2010. That meant there were fewer people to pay into
the larger pool for essential services like schools, waste collection,
12 12 [ 21st century skills library ]
