Labor
Emil Mazey
1913–1983
· labor leader, UAW secretary-treasurer
Son of anti-war emigrants from Hungary, the fiery Briggs organizer rose to UAW secretary-treasurer and guarded the union's treasury for 33 years.
- Born
Regina, Saskatchewan- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 70- Also known as
- Emil L. Mazey · Cash-box Mazey
- Detroit years
- 1915–1983
- Field
- Labor
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Mazey's father and two uncles left Hungary for Canada to escape military training. Emil was born in Regina in 1913 and came to Detroit with his family at two. He graduated from Cass Technical High School and, after losing early jobs for union talk, went to work in 1936 at the Briggs Manufacturing stamping plant on Mack Avenue, where presses without guards cost many workers their fingers. After he led departmental work stoppages, guards threw him out onto Mack Avenue, and he vowed to come back and organize the place. He did: he was president of UAW Local 212 in 1937–1941 and again in 1943–1944. He helped organize Ford's Rouge complex in 1941, was elected UAW secretary-treasurer in 1947 and held the post until 1980, briefly leading the union after Walter Reuther died in 1970. He died in Detroit in 1983.
Highlights
- President of Briggs UAW Local 212, 1937–1941 and 1943–1944
- Helped organize Ford's Rouge complex in 1941
- UAW secretary-treasurer, 1947–1980
- Briefly led the UAW after Walter Reuther's death in 1970
- Negotiated a record back-pay settlement in the long Kohler strike, 1965
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 4
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1936–1944
Briggs Manufacturing Mack Avenue plant ("Old Mack")
Demolished · 1916–1980
The Briggs body-stamping plant where he started organizing in 1936; Chrysler bought it in 1953, closed the old plant in 1980 and tore it down after 1995. The site is part of today's Stellantis Detroit Assembly Complex – Mack.
Worked here · 1941
Ford River Rouge Complex
Ford's giant Dearborn complex, which he helped organize for the UAW in 1941.
Worked here · 1951–1980
Solidarity House
The UAW's riverside headquarters, where he kept a turtle drawing on his office wall with a motto about sticking your neck out.
Studied here
Cass Technical High School
Detroit's technical magnet high school, where he graduated; the 1922 building he knew was demolished in 2010–2011 and the school now uses its 2005 building next door.