WASHINGTON – Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) announced today that at his request, the Labor Museum and Learning Center of Michigan would receive $300,000 in federal funding as part of appropriations legislation that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last Friday.   Kildee’s funding request for the Flint museum was included in the final Transportation, Treasury, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations conference report, which passed the House with the Congressman’s support on November 18.  The funding Kildee secured represents a tenth of the overall cost of the Center, expected to budget $3 million.  The Center will provide a tribute to the history of the labor movement, highlighting the famed sit-down strike of 1936-1937 in Flint.

“I am pleased I was able to secure this money to fund the Labor Museum and Learning Center, which will tell the story of a historic event in Flint that changed the lives of working Americans across this country,” Congressman Kildee said.  “This museum will tell the story of the Flint Sit-Down Strike, rooted in the dream of a better livelihood for American autoworkers.  The strike and its aftermath transformed Flint, Genesee County, and working men and women all across America.”

Kildee and Bob Roth, Director of the United Automobile Workers’ Region 1-C, covering Flint, have worked together to make the Labor Museum project a reality. “We are thrilled with this funding,” said Roth.  “It will enable us to move forward with our plans of the Labor Museum.  Once again, Congressman Kildee has proven to be a true friend of labor.  We appreciate his support.”

The funding Kildee requested will help with the construction and preservation of artifacts for the Labor Museum and Learning Center, a shrine to the American labor movement centered around the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936-1937.  The strike lasted 44 days in 1936-1937, and would impact the course of the industrial labor movement forever, subsequently establishing the United Automobile Workers as the exclusive bargaining representative for General Motors employees and a major part of the American auto industry.