On McGraw Avenue, just east of Livernois, are the remains of the Kelsey-Hayes plant that built brakes for Ford Motor Company. At this site, in December 1936, was the first sit-down strike organized by Walter Reuther and the early United Auto Workers, which won higher wages and better working conditions for workers. The strikers were cheered by thousands of onlookers, and membership in the union soared. Victor Reuther, Walter’s brother, wrote that “everyone sensed that a new era had begun for auto workers.”
