Word: automen
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Since G.M.'s contract expires May 29, and Ford's on June 1, the showdown-and possible strike-will come by early summer. In Detroit, automen were betting that a strike, if called, would be against Ford only, because Ford's 135,000 members would cost the U.A.W. little more than a third of the union benefits required for G.M.'s 325,000 members...
Flattened Curve? One big trouble with the auto workers' G.A.W. is that there are so many possible variations that no one knows just how much it would cost. Automen have had actuaries working on the project for two years, and reckon the cost might run as high as $5 billion in the first year. But the biggest problem is the one the union also fears the most: seasonal fluctuations in auto sales...
...Automen themselves would like to flatten out the sales curve (last week Ford was sponsoring radio ads urging motorists to buy their new cars now, instead of waiting for warmer weather). But they are not sure that it can be done. Even in recent years of relatively mild ups and downs, 25% more cars have been sold in the second quarter than in the first quarter. Consumers already have an incentive to buy in the winter, with the chance at bigger discounts and trade-ins. And what the union seems to forget is that any greater profit for dealers...
Ever since war's end, when automen started the great horsepower race in earnest, there have been complaints that safety was neglected for speed and power. Any further boost in either horsepower or size, cried New York Traffic Commissioner T. T. Wiley, would be "sheer madness." Auto makers have "gone on a horsepower jag . . . as insidious as dope." Added Denver's Traffic Engineer Jack Bruce: "We're running 300-h.p. cars on 50-h.p. streets." But despite the highway toll, the cold fact is that safety on the road is greater now than it was before World...
...people from buying G.M. cars." But he fervently hopes that they will be able to stand up to his Goliath and fight-and thus keep the long arm of the Government from mixing in the auto industry. Curtice thinks his competitors can do it, and so do they. For automen 1955 may well provide the answer...