Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-01
JUNE
Auto Workers Win
: 'Guorunteed Wage;
Peron Regime Totters

June could have been the month
!. for unprecedented labor strife IN
= the United States AS it turned out,
June was the month for labor
peace, though some industrialists
feared it might turn out to have
sbeen peace at any price.
1t was June 6. Talks Between
Walter Reuther's Auto Workers and
zthe giants of the auto industry had
sbeen dragging on for two months.
AT first the heat had been on Cen
seral Motors. Then it turned to
@Ford. The deadline passed at mid
night June S, and some Ford work
ers walked of the job and took up
spicket signs.
Then on the 9Th, Henry Ford II
sand Mr.. Reuther announced the
signing of a new labor contract
providing for what the auto work.
5ers called a guaranteed annual
wage" but which actually was
only partially guaranteed and only
semi annual. Nevertheless. it was
"a significant victory for Mr.. Reu-
tner. and gave Ford workers be-
tween 90 and Is cents an hour in
-wages and fringe benefits. General
Motors soon fell in line. as (later
in the year, did Chrysler.
What insured labor peace instead
of labor war in Detroit undoubtedly
was the industry's' prosperity. 1t
was apparent by spring that the
automakers had q good thing 60
ing. BY June it seemed likely that
1856 production would top all rec
ords---as indeed it did. No. COM
'pany wanted to be shut down dur
ling such lush period.
Foreign
While preparations for the Ge-
neva meeting went on. the inter-
national spotlight turned to Argen-
tina. where the seemingly secure
throne of President Dictator Juan
Peron started shaking.
There had been Inducements of
discord in Argentina for some time.
The strongly Catholic populace had
long been shocked by such sacfile-
gious shenanigans as Peron'S effort
to canonize his late wife, who had
had in her lifetime the reputation
of being a bit of hussy. Disorders
followed discomfort. and the end
result was the communication Of
Peron and his chief disciples.
The dictator seemed not to mind.
AS it later developed. he was far
too busy with teen-age girl friends
to worry about the church.
Then the Navy moved in. bonn
harding the center Of Buenos Aires.
When the dust cleared, ia persons
.-were dead and 846 injured. But
Through it all. Peron retained his
hold-temporarily.
The Soviet Union was going about
its incomprehensible business mean
while. With one hand Russia was
waving the olive branch while, with
the other, she was shooting down
a Navy patrol plane in the Boring
cStrait. Soviet regrets" plus the
rising spirit of Geneva did much to
molIify the United States.
Government
If the Soviet Air Force had at
tackled the United States on June
IS, nuclear bombs would have killed
14.750,000 persons in SO cities. That.
at any rate, was the situation es-
atablished by Civil Defense planners
for Operation Alert" the first mass
evacuation of Government workers
from the Capital
: President Eisenhower and $4,000
of his subordinates quit Washing
ton that day. setting up emergency
headquarters at distances from 80
to 300 miles from their regular
5places of work. The President did
his job at a temporary desk in
ctent far enough away from Wash
ington to be safe and close enough
to his Gettysburg pa farm to
drive there for dinner one evening.
Strife between President and Con-