INSURANCE: Peace for Prudential
Three months ago more than 7,500 Prudential Insurance Co. "industrial" agents walked out in the first major strike of U.S. insurance agents and the biggest "whitecollar" strike in U.S. labor history. The strikers, whose work included selling and collecting premiums on industrial policies (i.e., insurance paid for in small weekly or monthly installments), complained of overwork and underpay. During the strike, they threw as many as 1,000 pickets around the company's Newark (N.J.) headquarters.
This week, after 139 days of bargaining and Federal mediation, the company and the A.F.L. Insurance Agents' International Union reached an agreement which the strikers must still ratify. Its terms: an average pay increase of $5.45 a week compared to the astronomical $75 a week originally demanded. The new average earnings: $116.15 a week including commissions.
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