Toward a Strike

In 44 days of bargaining, negotiators have managed to settle just one item in Walter Reuther's 46-page list of United Auto Worker demands. They agreed to add "sex and age" to "color" in a contract antidiscrimination clause. Beyond that, the only consensus in Detroit seems to be that the industry is in for a long, costly strike. The union, snapped U.A.W. Vice President Leonard Woodcock last week, would not hesitate to pick a strike target "if we fail to get a satisfactory offer--and that's a foregone conclusion."

Neither side wanted to show its hand until the last minute. Reuther remained mum about what "substantial wage increases" might mean, offered no clue as to the relative priorities of his 28 other major demands. The automakers decided not to put their proposals on the table until this week, only ten days or so before contracts expire on Sept. 6. The idea was to give the union less time for the usual grandstanding rejections of early offers--but the U.A.W. managed a bit of histrionics anyway. Woodcock saw it all as an industry plot that was "geared to making a strike inevitable."

The Worst Time. A shutdown could hardly hit the industry at a worse time. Because assembly lines stopped relatively early for model changeovers this year, inventories of 1967 models are down to a scant 41-day supply--which means that some dealers are already short of cars. Production of 1968 models, for which the automakers have high sales hopes, went into full swing only last week. In St. Louis to unveil the new

Mercury Montego that replaces the smaller, slow-selling Comets,* Ford Group Vice President Lee lacocca predicted a 9,000,000-car year, barring a strike, which would blow that prospect "sky-high."

Even so, the manufacturers may prefer a strike to a contract that could cast a three-year pall over profits. By General Motors Negotiator Louis G. Seaton's reckoning, the U.A.W.'s demands would add $4 an hour to the average $4.68 that G.M.'s workers now get in wages and benefits. More realistically, the union's goal is probably a full 6% increase--at a time when the automakers are just beginning to feel the cost of mandatory safety modifications and higher prices in steel, copper and rubber. Ford last week announced that, even without a strike and a big wage increase, the company's profits will be down about 40% this year from 1966's $621 million.

"To the Mat." Reuther, too, is under pressure--though in his case it is pride and power, not profits, that are at stake. For one thing, a smashing victory in Detroit would help his running war with George Meany, 73, and the aging A.F.L.-C.I.O. hierarchy, which he charges is in need of "rejuvenation." Then again, he has an aging problem of his own. More than 40% of the U.A.W.'s 1,500,000 members are under 30, whereas Reuther turns 60 on Sept. 1. He is having particular trouble with the 200,000 U.A.W. skilled tradesmen, who long for the 13% wage increases that building tradesmen are getting in some cities and complain that Reuther has debased their "dignity" by paying more attention to the needs of ordinary production workers. Reuther has promised to "go to the mat" for at least one of their demands--that auto companies end the practice of contracting work to outside shops. But he also denounced as "ill-timed and illadvised" a demonstration of 5,000 workers outside Ford headquarters last week.

The restiveness of the skilled work ers might develop into rebellion, should Reuther give bargaining priority to his "guaranteed annual income" (TIME, July 21). The skilled workers, who enjoy almost full employment, are more irked at the plan than the companies. "It takes incentive away from the man who likes to work," says a G.M. tradesman. "I want money instead."

To Pick a Target. Beyond the major demands, there are thousands of trivial, and often ridiculous, issues to be settled. One local, for example, is asking for both free lunches and a share in the company cafeteria's profits. Another now wants magazine racks installed on the John doors it won in 1964.

The next act will come when time runs out on the current contracts next week. Following the script, Reuther will go before TV cameras to announce his "target company"--the one he will personally meet at the bargaining table to pound out a pattern for the rest of the industry. The probable choice is G.M., which has not had the dubious distinction since 1945. As for the distance G.M. might have to go, the U.A.W.'s brimful $67 million strike fund can last for nine weeks.

*And is also the first model to have Ford's "energy-absorbing" front end, which, with a specially designed 18-in. section in the car's frame, is supposed to collapse, accordion-style, in a head-on collision, thus soften crash impact.

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