Evening star., 1955-05-29
DeodIine: June !


at almost any time.
DeodIine: June ]
The first of Detroit's labor con-
tracts to expire will be that of the
Ford Motor Co., with General Mo-
tors contract ending June Z. The
third Of the big Three" Chrysler.
is under contract until August 81
and is not involved in present bar
gaining.
Originally. General Motors his
tory making 1850 contract was due
to expire today, but Mr.. Reuther
gave GIN a "reprieve" Of nine days,
until June Z.
This move. Of course, put Ford
on the hook. However, the mere
fact that Ford is first in line now
does not mean that Ford will be
the first to be struck if a strike
comes. Mr.. Reuther has carefully
loaded his big artillery and is ready
for either of the two auto industry
giants.
Reuther's Advantages
At the moment. many advantages
seem to be on Mr.. Reuther's side.
Items:
Sales. The industry has never
had it so good. 1t started early
this year with radically redesigned
line of cars-especially in the lower
priced brackets-and found an un-
expectedly good market for IS cars.
BY the middle of this month the in
dustry was producing cars at rate
approaching million year.
roughly so per cent higher than the
rate in $3.50 1854 and considerably
higher even than 1858.
Inventory. When the industry
started going for broke" in produc-
tion this year. it was assumed that
one of the big ideas was to build up
large inventory and thus weather
long work stoppage without losing
a lot of retail sales. Unexpected
demand kept eating into this inven-
tory. And while storage lots all
over the country are full of cars,
the total backlog of unsold autos
amounts to only about a six-week
supply. Had 1855 been no better a
year than 1858. there would have
been several months backlog ac-
cumulated by now.
Suspicion. The automobile in
dustry is a business where Gimbels
never. never tells Macy's. There is
no such thing as industry wide bar
gaining with labor-as in the steel
industry-primarily because the auto
makers do not trust each other even
to the extent Of pooling anti-labor
strategy. Mr.. Reuther, by keeping
everything under cover, can play
both ends-GM and Ford-against
the middle-UAW-with fair pros
poets OF coming out ahead.
Rivalry. The big two are still de-
batting whose car was No. in sales
last year-Chevrolet or Ford. Each
company would be reluctant to risk
strike if the other were to con-
tinue production. A few days work
stoppage now could mean the diff
ference between No. / and No. 2
spots at the end Of the year. And
Mr.. Reuther. by allowing negotia-
tions to continue until each company
was working under a day-to-day
contract extension, could hold over
the head of each terrible weapon
an almost immediate strike. That
he has the authority to call a strike
is unqueStioned. His rank-and- filters
in GIN and Ford factories already
have voted Overwhelmingly to strike
on order from the International
union.
Reuthers Problems
But If Mr.. Reuther has these
points in his favor, he also has a
few problems of his own. For in
stance:
Prestige. Mr.. Reuther has gone
farther than any other major labor
leader in the matter of a guaran-
teed annual wage. Mr.. Reuther has
made GAW an auto industry article
of faith. He says he is ready to
dicker on techniques, but is firm on
principle. A costly strike without
a decisive victory for Mr.. Reuther
could hurt his prestige.
Cost. Michigan-where the great
est number of Mr.. Reuther's mem
bers operate-pays no unemploy-
ment compensation benefits to men
on strike. The striking union
grubstakes its own members when
they hit the bricks. For several
months UAW members have, been
contributing to a war chest which
is estimated at about $25 million
now. But how long will the strike
fund last? Obviously, it would last
longer if 100000 strikers at Ford
were drawing benefits while 1886, 900
GIN workers remained on the job
paying strike assessments than it
would if GIN was out and Ford stayed
open. And If a combined strike
force of nearly half a million walked
out of both companies factories, the
fund would last about three weeks.
So Mr.. Reuther has to call his strike
shots carefully if he decides to blow
the whistle. A short strike at GIN,
a sustained strike at Ford-either
would be all right. No strike at all
would be better, as far as UAW is
concerned.
Insurgents. While Mr.. Reuther is
undoubted president Of the UAW.