Word: reuthers
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...name of President John F. Kennedy on matters of deepest concern to the nation's 72.2 million-man labor force. When some locals of the United Auto Workers staged the toilet strike against General Motors just as an agreement seemed imminent (see BUSINESS), both U.A.W. President Walter Reuther and G.M. Negotiator Lou Seaton called Goldberg for advice. Patiently, Goldberg heard each man out, discovered areas of agreement, and eased them toward accord. Both sides were confident of an end to the walkouts this week...
...Matter of Spirit. In its broadest terms, labor's trouble stems from a flagging of spirit. Of the fire-breathing militants who led labor to the top, most are now either dead or senescent, and only the Auto Workers' Walter Reuther remains as a towering national figure. A.F.L.-C.I.O. President George Meany, a onetime apprentice plumber, acts as a caretaker instead of a crusader. In a significant interview last week, Meany shrugged off the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s declining membership as a matter of interest only to individual unions. "We have no plans for any membership drive...
...Cold-Shower Glow. General Motors gave Reuther pretty much the same beribboned package that he got two weeks earlier at American Motors Corp.-but without profit sharing. One reason for G.M.'s sudden retreat was that it wants nothing to block what it hopefully expects to be a banner selling year. Said American Motors Vice President Ed Cushman: "You should have seen Walter's eyes light up like a pinball machine when two G.M. vice presidents predicted a 7,250,000-car year for 1962. Walter knew he had power there...
More than that, Reuther knew that the Kennedy Administration was pressing for a quick settlement. On the strength of repeated hints dropped by Arthur Goldberg, Detroit became convinced that the Administration was prepared to take extraordinary action in case of an auto strike that might jeopardize the business recovery and the defense speedup. While General Motors figured it could economically risk a walkout, it also figured that to do so would only invite prompt government intervention that very likely would enforce the same kind of settlement that G.M. accepted voluntarily...
...just 17 hours before the strike deadline, a personal telegram came in to both sides from President Kennedy, emphasizing "the high degree of responsibility you bear to the country . . ." In the final countdown, G.M. began to make one concession after another. After 17 solid hours of hard bargaining, Walter Reuther stepped out wearing a coldshower glow. "I feel very good," he beamed. "I'm delighted...