Word: reuthers
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General Motors and Chrysler were pleased that Reuther had settled so modestly; they hope to settle on about the same terms. Washington was relieved: the contract promised to bring three yeaRs of auto labor peace at a price that Washington thought would add little to inflationary pressure. Ford's wage bill per worker will go up about 4% annually, which could be balanced by industry's gains in productivity, thus should not greatly alter auto prices...
...Early last week, Ford called for a showdown. It laid a new offer on the 50-ft.-long bargaining table in the English Room of the Detroit-Leland Hotel. Within 18 minutes, General Motors and Chrysler gave the U.A.W. almost identical offers. It was one more warning to Reuther that the Big Three, bargaining together as never before, might take some drastic action such as a shutdown or delay in bringing out new models if the U.A.W. went through with plans to strike Ford. Reuther plainly could not afford to fight the united front. It would break his strike...
...that Reuther would give in came when Ford proposed a three-year agreement. Reuther raised no real objection, even though this key Ford demand had been flatly turned down for months. From then on, differences were quickly settled. The problem was to find enough high-sounding but low-cost fringe benefits so that Reuther, who had long ago scrapped his grandiloquent profit-sharing schemes, could save face. Fordman Bugas hurried to a special evening meeting of Ford's board in Dearborn. He returned with a few penny-ante sweeteners. Reuther stepped back into the conference room, as union stewards...
...passed, and 98,000 Ford workers went out while the U.A.W. hastily readied telegrams urging them to please go back to work. A few hours later Fordman John Bugas, happy that he had bagged the management's best contract since World War II, stretched out his hand to Reuther. "Walter," he beamed, "you've got yourself a deal...
...sale, but no builders would buy, because the city's plans for the project seemed too high-class for the moderate rents it wanted to charge. Finally, in 1954, a group of citizens, ranging from Henry Ford to the U.A.W.'s Walter Reuther, obtained a 90-day option. With James W. Bell, Detroit City Planner, as coordinator, the group raised $450,000 in loans, set itself a high goal: no regimentation, no restrictions, the most advanced technology and design ("We must be mindful that we are building for 50 to 100 years"), yet a range of prices that...