"A Great Weariness"

Walter Reuther, president of the United Auto Workers, and Herbert V. Kohler, head of Kohler Co., one of the nation's biggest manufacturers of plumbing fixtures, are two stubborn men. In April 1954, Reuther's U.A.W. walked out of the Kohler plant in Sheboygan, Wis. Last week, after fighting it out for 8 1/2 years in the longest and one of the most bitter strikes in U.S. history, the two antagonists finally reached a settlement.

The U.A.W. could claim a victory of sorts. The union established its right to bargain with Kohler, was backed up by the National Labor Relations Board and the courts, and won a contract that was somewhat more generous about fringe benefits and union security than the one in effect in 1954.

But the union paid dearly for its victory. In all, the U.A.W. poured more than $12 million into a fight that included a nationwide boycott of the company's products, which was only partially successful. What is more, no one can put a price tag on the bitterness that was engendered among union members during the early years of the struggle. Kohler managed to keep open for all but the first two months of the strike by hiring nonunion labor. The lure of the paycheck persuaded many men to quit the U.A.W. and go back to work. In dozens of U.A.W. homes in Sheboygan, one man returned to Kohler--and found himself the enemy of his father and brother.

By last week, for one reason or another, most of the hate had ebbed away. Over the years, hundreds of workers had simply packed up and left Sheboygan. Those who remained--union men and company officials alike--seemed heartily sick of the whole mess. "There is a great weariness with the matter," said City Editor Carl Fiedler of the Sheboygan Press after the settlement was announced. "There was very little reaction. In fact, I'd say there was hardly any at all."

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