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From Labor Action, Vol. 14 No. 15, 10 April 1950, p. 2.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
DETROIT, April 2 – Walter P. Reuther, UAW-CIO president, and the whale labor movement here had their eyes opened this past week -by the magnificent demonstration that Chrysler Local 7 put on before the plant gates, with between 8,000 to 10,000 strikers marching and attending a mass street rally.
This was the most important event during the tenth week of the strike because it confounded the Chrysler Corporation – which must have been dismayed by the militant spirit shown at the rally – and it. was a big surprise to the skeptics and disheartened unionists who thought that a militant call to action would be ignored by the rank and file.
What the rank and file showed was that no matter how painful the sacrifices and no matter how long the struggle, if the UAW-CIO summoned them to a militant program of action they would respond.
A big question in Detroit this week is why Dodge Local 3 and other locals on strike who keep prating about their G-R-E-A-T militancy don’t do as well as Local 7.
Getting the rally was not an easy matter. It took some spirited fighting on the part of a tiny handful of union militants at Local 7 to convince the leaders that such a demonstration should be held. At a membership meeting the rank and file backed the proposal unanimously.
When one recalls that Local 7 has only 14,000 dues-paying members, and that more than 2,500 are out of town with another 1,000 working elsewhere, the size of the demonstration becomes a real achievement and a testimonial to the determination of the ranks to see that their sacrifice is not in vain.
Of course, with that kind of atmosphere at the street rally, Reuther was at his “soap-box” best. He poured it on, as they say in the UAW, and he made some important commitments: (a) a good pension plan; (b) health insurance program, and (c) a better contract.
Make no mistake about it, the Reuther leadership never faced a crucial test comparable to the Chrysler strike.
Negotiations at General Motors have begun, and certainly the outcome of the Chrysler struggle will determine to a considerable extent what happens at GM – unless GM decides to do the highly unlikely thing of signing a new contract, including a union shop, and granting a pension plan, suddenly and while Chrysler is still on strike.
Of course, if the Chrysler Corporation retreats from its vicious anti-union stand and does offer a compromise settlement, the Reuther leadership will settle and the ranks will accept it; but the active strike leaders will be very bitter, for they expect more from the Reuther leadership, and that is why this strike is so important, from Reuther’s viewpoint.
For Reuther’s power rests on the active chief stewards, committeemen, and secondary leaders. Thus far, with the exception of his faux pas on arbitration of the contract, Reuther has shown that he understands the situation.
Between the pressure of incidents like the Local 7 rally, and the murderous anti-union campaign of the corporation (which is attacking Reuther sharply and personally), the Reuther leadership has responded by getting more militant in its propaganda. This past Sunday the UAW had its first real effective attack on Chrysler over a major radio station in Detroit. Nat Weinberg, UAW research director, did an excellent job of exposing the Wall Street connections of Chrysler, the financial chicanery of the corporation, and generally blasting the corporation.
As this strike approaches the 1946 General Motors strike in duration, the tension is greater and the feelings of the rank and file more bitter. In 1946, the workers at least had some war bonds to help them, and they had been working almost the whole war period on a six-day schedule. Today the Chrysler workers are having a very hard time living; they merely exist, and many are losing homes, cars, and finding themselves way behind in rent.
Tempers are sharp, demands for welfare are increasing daily, and the urge for a successful settlement stronger every day.
If this anger is directed against the corporation, the UAW may come out of this strike struggle with a more militant and determined rank and file and with a victory settlement. If the Reuther leadership pussyfoots in its attitude toward the corporation and the strike settlement, the resentment will turn against the Reuther leadership.
The chips are down in the Chrysler strike, and everyone knows it.
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Last updated: 24 January 2024