(world premiere, Oakland Symphony commission with support from the Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music and Saint Mary’s College of California (Frank J. Filippi Professorship in Performing Arts; Provost’s Research Grant; Faculty Development Fund; Office of Faculty Development Writers’ Retreat)

On Dec. 30, 1936 two thousand auto workers in Flint, Michigan rose up against General Motors, the largest corporation in the world. They’d been driven to drastic action by crushing working conditions; the heat, danger, long hours, and unrelenting pace broke down bodies and shattered nerves. Their strain was amplified by fluctuating employment and grinding wage uncertainty, shop-floor bullies and GM spies. They occupied the plants for forty-four days in what became known as the “Great Flint Sit-Down Strike.”

Facing the constant threat of violent expulsion, the strikers hunkered down. On Jan. 11 GM escalated, attacking with tear gas and guns. The story made international headlines. Then on Feb. 1st, 1937, in a brilliant tactical move, strike leaders fed disinformation to known spies, creating a diversion that allowed sit-downers to take over two more plants in the GM complex. With pivotal links in GM’s production chain now disrupted, the balance of power shifted decisively. A negotiated settlement quickly followed. The Flint victory marked the dawn of a new era, one in which the needs and rights of ordinary workers could not easily be swept aside in the name of profit. In the wake of the strike, America’s blue collar middle class was born. Legitimized by the Flint victory, the non-violent disruption of business-as-usual was soon deployed by other labor activists, as a wave of sit-down strikes swept the country. The strategy continued to evolve across the 20th century: into Civil Rights-era lunch-counter sit-ins, then Vietnam demonstrations, environmental protests, Occupy Wall Street, and more. The issues that drove the Flint strike have also evolved, but have never been resolved. 21st century workers still struggle for a living wage, for humane working conditions, for union protections –whether their employer is a fast-food franchise, a global corporation, the nation’s railroads, or a third-world factory making goods for first-world consumers.

But in the story of the Flint Strike we also find inspiration and timely reminders: of the humanity and dignity of workers; of women’s resourcefulness and courage; of the potency of collective action by ordinary individuals. Some of the strike’s battles were fought with bodies and weapons, but many more were fought with words - as all sides jockeyed for public support, political advantage or financial gain. For this reason, our libretto was shaped largely from the actual speech and writings of the strike’s key players, captured in the sit-downer’s letters, diaries and telegrams; audio archives of the sit-downers’ recollections; published interviews and memoirs; and in GM’s own press statements and policy memos.

Maestro Michael Morgan wholeheartedly supported the creation of this oratorio, and it is with deep gratitude that we dedicate this work to him.

~ Bodies on the Line Notes by Martin Rokeach, composer, and
Rebecca Engle, librettist and dramaturge, copyright 2023