DigitalCollections@ILR

This collection includes writings of Marshall (Mike) Westfall, retired autoworker from General Motors in Flint, Michigan (1964-1994) and activist critic of the auto industry restructuring that led to devastating job losses. The writings originally appeared in a variety of online resources and represent a sampling of his post-retirement thought on issues pertaining to auto workers and the industry. Mr. Westfall’s personal papers are preserved at the University of Michigan-Flint, Frances Willson Thompson Library. They document Mr. Westfall’s grassroots activities in the 1970s and 1980s, and deal with corporate restructuring, industrial pollution, foreign worker exploitation, the domestic impact of foreign sourcing, the demand for concessions to eliminate worker and retiree protections, corporate tax breaks at the expense of communities, apartheid and other labor related issues that Westfall’s grassroots groups addressed over the years. Some of these same issues are echoed in the online articles gathered here.