The often-bloody battles that established the country&rsquo;s union movement are usually associated with places such as New York and Michigan. </p><p>But Bill Clause also wants you to think of Kansas City when considering the rise of organized labor during the Great Depression.</p><p>That&rsquo;s why Clause, a local labor activist and retired union member, wrote &ldquo;1937: One Helluva Year,&rdquo; a play that will be performed the next two weekends in Kansas City.</p><p>Presented by community radio station KKFI-FM and CrossCurrents Culture, &ldquo;1937&rdquo; focuses on three story lines from that year: the first sit-down strike against Ford Motor Co., led by United Auto Workers Local 249 at its Winchester plant in Kansas City; the predominantly black Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters successfully concluding a 12-year strike when union president A. Philip Randolph signed a bargaining agreement at Paseo Baptist Church; and members of the International Garment Workers Union putting on a successful play on Broadway.</p><p> In addition to Randolph, historical figures appearing in the play include prominent union leader John L. Lewis, auto magnate Henry Ford and Kansas City political boss Tom Pendergast.</p><p>Clause, who works for KKFI and whose wife, Judy, directs the play, said &ldquo;1937&rdquo; is something they worked on and presented 11 years ago.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve done a number of shows about organized labor, and we remembered this one fondly,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Part of the reason for bringing it back was to do a fundraiser for KKFI. But as a culture, we&rsquo;re not very good at remembering our own history. People need to be reminded of what conditions were like and how the union movement got us to where we are. 1937 was one of those watershed years.&rdquo;</p><p>Clause thinks &ldquo;1937&rdquo; could also resonate with audiences, given the current state of affairs in the country.</p><p>&ldquo;This takes place in the Great Depression, and we seem to be living through what some people are calling the Great Recession,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And some of the themes are familiar, given what happened recently at Ford and UAW Local 249.&rdquo;</p><p>Local 249, now representing about 4,000 workers at Ford&rsquo;s massive Claycomo plant, was one of the first locals to sternly vote down Ford&rsquo;s latest proposal for concessions in the national contract. One of the rejected concessions was Ford&rsquo;s effort to have its union workers give up their right to strike in certain situations until 2015.</p><p> &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t plan it this way, but it&rsquo;s interesting how the timing has played out with what&rsquo;s happened at Ford,&rdquo; Clause said. &ldquo;The play reminds you how terrible the working conditions were in these auto plants before the UAW came along.&rdquo;</p><p>Although &ldquo;1937&rdquo; tackles serious issues, it also contains comedy and musical numbers. </p><p>Clause summed it up: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s really kind of our valentine to organized labor.&rdquo; </p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">The details </span></strong><br /> &bull;&ldquo;1937: One Helluva Year&rdquo; will be performed at the Just Off Broadway Theater, 3051 Central St.</p><p>&bull;Showtimes: 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday, and Nov. 20 and 21.</p><p>&bull;Tickets: $17 in advance; $20 at the door; $10 for students and the unemployed. Buy online at www.brownpapertickets .com/event/85179.</p><p>&bull;The Nov. 14 performance will be a benefit for KKFI and will include a barbecue dinner at 6 p.m. Dinner is optional, but the combined cost of the two is $30 a ticket.</p><p></div>