Expansion of output and high protective Canadian tariffs led many American auto companies to establish branch plants in Canada during the early part of this century. Having a Canadian branch plant meant cheaper access to not only the Canadian market but to the whole of the British Commonwealth. Companies needed only assemble their vehicles here to circumvent these tariffs, so American auto parts were often imported from the established industry base of Detroit, for assembly in their closest Canadian neighbour - Windsor. By the 1920s, the Ford, Hupp, Gramm, Dodge, Regal, Maxwell, Chalmers, Graham-Paige, Pierce Arrow, REO, Gotfredson, Studebaker and W. E. Seagrave motor companies had all commenced operations in this area. Home-grown companies such as Dominion Motors, Menard Motor Truck, Tate Electric Motor Car and Canadian Commercial Motor Car also established themselves in Windsor during this same period. By 1926, Windsor was the car capital of Canada, boasting fifty-five of Canada's seventy auto and auto-parts plants.

Prior to unionization and collective resistance, auto workers most typically showed their discontent with workplace conditions and management practices by quitting. During the early years of the industry in Windsor, auto workers had literally dozens of different companies - within the same industry - they could work for. Many workers quit their jobs and went in search of higher wages and better working conditions. Frequent job changes by workers became even more common after 1908 as the industry moved toward increasingly tedious mechanized production methods. For workers bored with the new routinized work, quitting and relocating to a different company offered the possibility of job variation and a temporary reprieve from monotony.

The possibility of employment at different companies dwindled, however, as fierce competition within the industry drove many companies out of business and changes in Canadian tariffs in the late 1920s and 1930s decreased the economic incentive for American companies to produce their cars in Canada. Hudson, Packard and Studebaker all closed their Canadian operations due to the effects of the lowered tariffs. An inter-war period of industry consolidation also saw many companies amalgamated or bought-out by their larger rivals while many feeder plants came under the control of major automobile manufacturers. By the end of 1936, only Ford, Chrysler, Packard (which ceased operations in 1941) and General Motors were still producing cars in Windsor. The traditional method of individual resistance by workers - quitting - was undercut by an industry now dominated by a small handful of employers. Following consolidation, employer manipulations and workplace conditions were best resisted through organized, collective action.