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The author, an Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Toledo, argues that federal workers facing unlawful dismantling efforts should learn from historic labor movements, particularly the Flint sit-down strikes of 1936...
As the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues to dismantle the federal government as we know it, reports have emerged that the US African Development Foundation (USADF) denied entry to a gaggle of DOGE minions. This refusal was reportedly at the behest of the foundation’s resident and CEO Ward Brehm. The USADF board is chaired by former senator Carol Moseley Braun.
A report by The Hill claimed Trump was attempting to install a hand-picked replacement into the helm of the USADF. In response, Brehm reportedly wrote in a letter:
I will look forward to working with [Peter Marocco, deputy acting head of USAID, which Trump promptly set about gutting upon reassuming office] after such time that he is nominated for a seat on the Board and his nomination is confirmed by the Senate. … Until these legal requirements are met, Mr. Marocco does not hold any position or office with USADF, and he may not speak or act on the Foundation’s behalf.
Respect to Brehm and Braun for insisting on the rule of law over lawlessness.
This makes one wonder what is to be done when the plutocrats do not care about you.
Maybe it is time to go back in labor history to two seminal events in Toledo, Ohio and Flint, Michigan in the 1930s in an earlier era marked by plutocrats not giving a hoot about the dignity of ordinary citizen workers.
First, there was the Auto-Lite strike of 1934, during which workers walked out of a plant in an act of protest for union recognition and higher wages. A core risk these workers ran in their strike was that of being locked out of their workplace, and thus cut out of the dialogue.
An alternative version was the sit-down strike in Flint against General Motors in 1936. During this protest, rather than walking off the job site to demand improved conditions, the protesters sat down at the assembly line, refusing to budge.
The Auto-Lite strike in Toledo established the power of mass mobilization and community solidarity in labor struggles, while the Flint sit-down strike against General Motors demonstrated the effectiveness of occupying workplaces as a tactic, ultimately leading to GM’s recognition of the United Auto Workers and inspiring similar actions across numerous industries throughout the country.
To walk out of federal government now could create vulnerabilities. To mimic the struggle of the Flint workers, the federal workers of today could sit at their desks and refuse to move. Removal would have to be by force.
In addition to the lawsuits by unions, these kinds of direct actions of bravery to resist illegal orders may have to become par for the course to focus attention on DOGE employees still attempting to take a hatchet to federal government.
Benjamin G. Davis is an Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Toledo College of Law in Ohio.
Opinions expressed in JURIST Commentary are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JURIST's editors, staff, donors or the University of Pittsburgh.
