One of the other reasons for the impending downfall was the Battle of the Overpass, an incident that took place on May 26, 1937. Here the labour organizers clashed with Ford Motor Company security guards at the River Rouge Plant complex in Dearborn, Metro-Detroit, Michigan. Henry Ford declined to recognize the United Automobile Workers (UAW), and brutally limited their efforts to organize the workers of his company. He was of the firm belief that he cared and knew his workers’ needs better than any trade or labour unions. Henry was adamant about his resolution to not agree to the union’s demands. In 1938, Henry Ford suffered a stroke, but dominant that he was, he continued to exercise control of his company rather than entrusting the powers to his son Edsel Ford. The latter was the President only in namesake.
Nine years later, there was a 10-day sit down strike by 40,000 Ford workers. This added to his wife’s constant spat over the union issue. She ultimately told him, “I am leaving you after fifty years, if you do not support our son Edsel, and sign off on the Union Contracts.” Henry Ford was therefore compelled to sign a collective bargaining agreement with the United Auto Workers union on April 11, 1941.