They have organized themselves in preparation for a siege. Unquestionably the distinguishing feature of the Flint strike, apart from the heroic determination of the sitdowners, is the almost military control and discipline that prevail among the strikers in the whole area. Union headquarters in the Pengelly building are thoroughly departmentalized into strike strategy, commissary, women's auxiliary, transportation, publicity, and other committees. Inside the plants a committee governs through a corps of plant stewards with from twenty-five to fifty men under each. Machinery in the plants is scrupulously protected, and the whole plant is cleaned once a day.
Internal police keep order, and there are sentinels on the roof.
A stream of workers signs up daily with the union in the Pengelly building. Since the first sitdowner sat, membership has doubled in the Flint area. But there are still thousands of non-unionists. Through the endless negotiations it is Flint which has been the chief threat to Knudsen' s position, the chief weapon in Lewis's arsenal, and incidentally the bomb on which Governor Murphy has been manfully sitting for more than a week.