Q1: What were the working conditions in the factories?
Formative Task:
Students will listen to the poem “On the Line” to show what it was like to strike on the picket line.
Read/Analyze as a group “Why Ford Workers Strike” to see the differences in working conditions in a factory. Students will fill out a compare and contrast diagram of the evidence they found. They will then share out as a group and add to their own diagram.
Discuss Local Union Constitution and By-Laws (Preamble/Declaration of Principles) to establish that unions are essential to advancement of welfare and prosperity.
Finally, review The Fisher Body memo to employees regarding improvements in the factory. Students will see some efforts from management to maintain relations with employees.
Students will create a political cartoon about the working conditions in factories or union workers standing up against the Big 3.