Walter Reuther and his labor activism

Walter Reuther was one of the most powerful labor leaders of the 20th century. He was also one of the most influential labor leaders in history. He headed the United Automobile Workers labor union. Walter was also an advisor to a long line of presidents. He was also one of the most ambitious and selfless people around. Despite wielding a lot of power he was a very simple and down to earth person. He was one of the lowest paid union leaders and was very proud of it. Walter used his power to improve the lives of the members of the union. Reuther's work speaks volumes about his personality. He was a very dynamic as well as innovative leader. Reuther was well-known for his humanitarian work. He made a lot of impact in the auto industry, where he worked hard for the workers rights. Reuther went through a lot of hurdles to gain benefits for his union members. He did everything to make sure that the rights of the workers weren't exploited. Most of the modern day unions have to thank Reuther for his efforts. A lot of modern day benefits such as life insurance, health care programs, tuition refund programs, and plenty of other perks are due to his hard work. It took a lot of effort to gain those benefits. He was also a social activist as he believed that unionism was a movement for uplifting the community.

According to Irving Bluestone, "There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow men. There is no greater contribution than to help the weak. There is no greater satisfaction than to have done it well."

Origin

Walter Reuther was born in 1907. His father was a trade union and socialist activist.

He was raised in wheeling, west Virginia. It was there where he learnt about trade unions and socialism. He also enrolled in the law program at the Detroit city college in 1929. Reuther became involved with politics at an early age when he became president of the social service club which was an offshoot of the socialist party. He remained an important and active member of the socialist party. He was unsuccessful in his bid to be elected to the Detroit City Council in 1937. However his efforts to curb inequality and in injustice did not unnoticed. He managed to impress President Franklin Roosevelt and joined the Democratic Party

Union

He became a die and tool leader for Ford.. However he was fired from Ford in 1933 for his socialistic political views. Reuther took a two-year sabbatical from his work the following year. He went on a world tour with his brother Victor. He also spent two years working at the Gorky auto factory in the Soviet Union which coincidentally had been set up Henry Ford. He left the Soviet Union as there was no political freedom in the country.

Reuther returned to Detroit at a time when the local unions were struggling against the cruel pressures of the auto industry.

He eventually got a job at General Motors. Reuther soon became a member of the UAW and eventually became the director of the UAW's GM department. He rose through the ranks of the auto industry. Reuther was eventually elected president of the UAW local 174 in 1936. Reuther was elected as president of the local 174 at the age of 29 in 1936. This was a very difficult period of time for him as well as the UAW He was also made a member of the UAW executive board in the same period. He was one of the best strike coordinators for the union. He was responsible for directing a series of sit down strikes to try and organize the auto plants. He had the respect of both the company as well as the workers. Reuther managed to handle the strike movement of 1944-45 by working for the worker's cause without hurting it. Reuther also was also responsible for calling a 116 days strike against GM. This was done so that there could be a 30% increase in wages without increasing the prices of cars. Reuther was successful in leading a strike against general motors. Reuther demanded that General Motors should open its books to let the public know that they could afford the pay raise without raising automobile prices. However Reuther was able to reach a deal with GM and there was no need for opening the books. He believed that the corporations should care for the welfare of the workers. They worked very hard to produce automobiles for the company. They got nothing in return. The only people who were happy were the big heads of the corporation as they got massive cash in return. They did nothing but try and save enough money for their shareholders. GM reluctantly accepted an 18% wage increase.

Acording to Lichestein, 25 years of economic conflict and accomodation means a lot. He states that in 1945, at the height of the UAW's long postwar strike against General Motors, auto publicist George Romney called Reuther "the most dangerous man in Detroit because no one is more skillful in bringing about the revolution without seeming to disturb the existing forms of society."

Lichestein feals that Romney's fear of Reuther was not groundless as the GM strike program, would have been disasterous if it had not worked. Its success would advance union power by making corporate price, investment and shop seniority policies subject to much greater labor influence.

Even though Reuther became an important and leading figure in the UAW, he had to face a lot of opposition from the supporters of the American Communist Party. The UAW prospered and grew under Reuther's leadership. The number of members grew to around 1.5 million members,

Reuther became a well-known name after the Second World War. He was one of the most dynamic and progressive figures in the trade union. However he was very unpopular with the conservative front as he was a supporter of civil rights and social welfare. He was eve n investigated by the Senate Select committee on labor in 1950 for illegal trade union movement. However the committee couldn't find any evidence of corruption.

He was elected president at the 194th UAW convention. It was a very close race. Reuther won as he was against communist interference. He was a believer in the socialist way of bargaining. According to Irving Bluestone Reuther, pledged to work for "a labor movement whose philosophy demands that it fight for the welfare of the public at large... We won the war. The task now is to win the peace."

The union managed to make a lot of progress with general motors and Chrysler. However it was quite difficult to organize activities at Ford. Ford resisted all union efforts very strongly. This was due to their anti-union activities.

Walter Reuther brought a lot of attention towards the labor cause on May 26, 1937. This was the day known as "battle of the overpass." Reuther had planned to hand out leaflets to the plant workers at ford that day. The media, clergy and local officials were to be witnesses. They were attacked by the ford thugs and beaten senseless for a long period of time. These pictures were splashed all over the print media guaranteeing the UAW a PR victory. According to Reuther "

They picked me up about eight different times and threw me down on my back on the concrete. I was on the ground they kicked me in the face, head and other parts of my body.... I never raised a hand. After they kicked me down the stairs, then they started to hit me at the bottom of the stairs, hit me and slugged, driving me before them but never letting me get away."

After this event things at Ford weren't the same again. Ford remained unorganized till 1941. Reuther was also named as the head of the UAW General Motors in 1939. He led a very successful tool and die strike against the corporation. This led General Motors to understand that the union meant business.

It was World War II which dragged Reuther towards the public spotlight. His plan for utilizing unused auto factories to build aircraft brought him a lot of national attention and respect. Reuther proposed that they turn out around 500 planes a day. A lot of corporations opposed this plan as they did not want to lose any profits. Reuther was proved right when the U.S. entered the Second World War after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He was even offered tempting high level posts in the federal government. However he turned them all down as he was deeply committed to the UAW. He became a consultant to Franklin Roosevelt.

He was elected president of the UAW in 1946. He held this post till his death. He made a lot of improvements in the lives of his union members. These improvements were a blessing as they were never heard of in such times. Reuther made sure that the workers enjoyed economic benefits as well as job security, pensions, vacations, and most important of all supplemental unemployment benefits. He was successful in the campaign for wage increase. Reuther managed to bargain for a great wage for workers at GM in 1948. He managed an accord where GM had to increase annual wages per annum and had it tied up to a cost of living allowance. This is one reason why the working and living standards of workers were improved. He also pressed for workers early retirement. According to him, workers should be retired after 30 years of service. It is sad that the current generation takes these benefits for granted.

They benefited from healthcare programs, profit sharing, severance pay, plans for legal assistance, increment in vacation time, holidays and rest time. They were also given profit sharing benefits too.

Supplemental unemployment benefits were implemented so that a worker could receive most of his income during a layoff. Reuther managed to rejuvenate the auto industry. It was known as a high risk industry earlier. However after Reuther came on board the labor union, the auto industry was changed from an insecure low wage job to a well paying and secure job. It wasn't easy to achieve all these goals. There were a lot of struggles during his tenure. A lot of strikes were observed in the industry.

Reuther was loathed by the auto industry due to his work in the labor union. He received a lot of threats in his life. Reuther was nearly kidnapped and killed by gunmen in 1938. He was not so lucky when he was shot in the arm in 1948. This left his right arm immobilized for the rest of his life.

The height of his powers came when he was elected as the president of the congress of industrial organizations in 1952. He then proposed a merger with the American federation of labor. The deal was finally completed in 1955. However this merger did not last for long. The AFL was headed by George Meany while Reuther took on as the head of the industrial union department. Reuther did not agree with Meany's conservative leadership and policies. This led to Reuther withdrawing the UAW from the AFL-CIO in 1968.

According to Vanessa Tait Poor Workers' Unions: Rebuilding Labor From Below, Reuther challenged Meany to call a special convention so that the UAW could unveil its agenda for revitalizing the labor movement. The AFL-CIO refused to follow his instructions. That was when UAW decided to distance itself from the AFL-CIO. She further goes on to write that the UAW formed the ALA and invited other unions to help organize millions of unorganized workers. They were also to help the poor and unemployed.

Besides being an advisor to the presidents, he was also a leader in the Democratic Party. He was a staunch supporter of the civil rights and liberties program. Reuther also believed that social security benefits should be tied to the worker's pensions. He proposed that if the amount of social security payment were higher then the auto companies had less to contribute. This was a very successful proposal as congress passed the first social security increase in 12 years. It improved the economic prospects of millions of people who were not connected to the union.

Walter Reuther was a supporter of the civil rights movement. He was a friend of DR Martin Luther king junior. He was often seen marching with civil rights activists. He even used the UAW to proved funding for the freedom marches in Detroit and Washington in 1963. Reuther also provided great funding for the United Farm Workers.

Reuther knew that the labor situation was not so great internationally. He set up ties with multiple organizations worldwide. Reuther even traveled to a lot of countries so he could meet representatives of their unions. He founded the international confederation of Free Trade Unions. The UAW was made an affiliate of that. In a way Reuther managed to globalize the labor movement and bring them closer.

Reuther was a strong advocate for worker education. He announced the construction of a worker center in the 1960s. This would provide workers with union education and provide their families with a recreational spot. However Reuther and his wife were killed in an air crash on way to the center on May 9, 1970. The cause of the plane crash was never known.

Famous Quotes

According to Carroll Thompson, a dialogue was held between Reuther and G.M. leader Harry Coen during the 1946 wage negotiations:

Reuther: I think when monopolies like the aluminum industry, owned 85 per cent nowadays, and magnesium, when the monopolies jeopardize the safety of the country, they can no longer be trusted in private hands to use them for a profit. That is my private philosophy.

Coen: It colors all your thinking.... You can't talk about this thing without exposing your socialistic desires.