In 1937, clashes between Michigan State College students and auto union members organizing a labor strike erupted in East Lansing. (Courtesy of MSU archives) With 3-foot-long concrete reinforcing rods in their hands, students at Michigan State College took to the streets of East Lansing on Monday, June 7, 1937, to push back an invasion of Lansing labor union members, kicking off the one-day — and oft-forgotten — Battle of East Lansing. (Perhaps if it had a catchy folk song sung by a local Peter, Paul and Mary-type group, future generations would better remember it?) Recounting these events nearly five decades later in an interview with labor historian Ken Germanson, Lester Washburn, president of  United Auto Workers union of Lansing — Local 182 — said the trouble started when the union had racked up a series of wins.…