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Unionism, Not Amazonism | Opinion On 5/20/21 at 8:00 AM EDT Nearly 85 years ago, a group of United Auto Workers members gathered on an overpass just outside of the Ford Motor Company s massive plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Their demands were simple. They wanted the notoriously anti-union Henry Ford to provide employees with better wages, reasonable hours and decent working conditions. As the organizers handed out leaflets emblazoned with the slogan, Unionism, Not Fordism, men from Ford s Service Department (an internal security force) violently attacked them in what later became known as The Battle of the Overpass. Ford won the battle the union stopped distributing pamphlets but lost the movement. Journalists on the scene captured the truth, prompting severe public and congressional backlash against Ford, and increased support for the UAW. Ultimately, Henry Ford relented and signed a contract with the union. ....
But at age 80 Henry was not up to the job. He let Charles Sorensen his loyal aide of 40 years slip away, and came under the influence of the thuggish Harry Bennett, head of the Ford Service Department, a euphemism for the company police force. Ford Motor Co. had many military contracts and the government was concerned about its stability. To rescue Ford and keep a Ford at the helm, Edsel’s eldest son Henry Ford II was released from the navy in 1944 and brought in as Ford’s executive vice-president. Old Henry tried clinging to the presidency but his wife Clara and Edsel’s wife Eleanor “convinced” him to relinquish control, allowing Henry II to became president. Although only 27 and inexperienced, he had the right instincts; his first significant administrative act was firing Harry Bennett. ....