Labor: Target: Chrysler

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While the nation worried about the possibility of an auto strike, each of the three union bargainers assigned to the Big Three makers argued for the privilege of having his firm selected as the United Auto Workers' strike target. Finally, Walter Reuther gave the nod to Chrysler Corp., at the same time moving the strike deadline back to Sept. 9 so that there will be labor peace during President Johnson's Labor Day speech in Detroit. Following the divide-and-conquer technique that he has used so successfully in the past, Reuther hoped to pressure Chrysler into granting contract provisions that he could later impose on Ford and General Motors. The hard bargaining began immediately.

Why was Chrysler picked? Reuther noted that Chrysler had made a "phenomenal" recovery, is now the industry's second most profitable company in return on invested capital (after General Motors) and the nation's seventh largest. He claimed that Chrysler owes the U.A.W. a favor for contract concessions the union made in 1961 when Chrysler was in trouble, said that it is time that Chrysler pioneered a labor contract — as both Ford and G.M. have done. Reuther also doubtless considered that a strike against Chrysler would be less of a drain on the U.A.W. strike fund, would have the best chance of early success, and would probably damage the economy least, thus creating the least public pressure on the union to desist. There could be a serious flaw in Reuther's thinking: Chrysler still accounts for only 14% of auto-industry sales, and G.M. and Ford just might refuse to sign any contracts patterned after one won from the smallest of the Big Three.