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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 76-24,382 EL-MESSIDI, Kathyanne Groehn, 1946- SURE PRINCIPLES MIDST UNCERTAINTIES: THE STORY OF THE 1948 GM-UAW CONTRACT. The University of Oklahoma,Ph.D., 1976 History, United States Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 481oe © 1976 k a t h y a n n e g r o e h n EL-MESSIDI ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE SURE PRINCIPLES MIDST UNCERTAINTIES: THE STORY OF THE 1948 GM-UAW CONTRACT A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE COLLEGE in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY KATHYANNE GROEHN EL-MESSIDI Norman, Oklahoma 1976 SURE PRINCIPLES MIDST UNCERTAINTIES: THE STORY OF THE 1948 GM-UAW CONTRACT APPROVED BY; <^. ^opcrcJk^J^T" -------------------- DISSERTATION COMMITTEE TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page PREFACE.............................................................................. IV I. POSTWAR PANORAMA ........................................................ 1 II. THE RICHEST COMPANY AND THE RICHEST CORPORATE OFFICIAL .............................................. 24 III. THE BIGGEST CIO UNION............................................... 48 IV. UNIFIED AUTO WORKERS MEET "GENEROUS" MOTORS 80 V. RESPONSE........................................................................... 108 VI. MEANING............................................................................... 140 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................. 165 i n PREFACE The General Motors-United Auto Workers settlement of 1948 for warded a subtle revolution in American capitalism already begun by greater industrial concentration, government regulation and corporate managerial guidance. The three concepts the agreement popularized were wage escalation, productivity factoring and longer term bargain ing. Wage escalation meant workers gained automatic increases or de creases in wages as living costs rose or fell. The U. S. Government's Bureau of Labor S tatistics provided the Consumer Price Index to record the ups and downs of a typical U. S. consumer's market basket. Pro ductivity factoring recognized that workers deserved regular percentage wage increases because they added to American productivity. Such in creases came regardless of cost of living changes. The contract based productivity percentages on an historical yearly average increase in output per man hour in U. S. manufacturing industries. Because workers' incomes kept up with the cost of living and workers received dependable wage increases, GM management assumed that strikes and negotiations need not be as frequent. Both GM and the UAW could devote themselves to other matters. America could again prosper. Colorful automobiles, from the bulbous to the streamlined could fu lfill dreams long deferred in depression and world war years. The GM-UAW settlement of 1948 also struck a balance among labor, management and government. These three parties huddled for security in a society which iv Communism disquieted, and American capitalism would never be the same. The contract assured Big Labor and Big Business, thereby supporting collective while lessening individual effort in society. Both parties enlisted a government agency for a permanent role in wage determina tion. The economy's effect on the worker, rather than union muscle- power or laws of labor supply, influenced wages. My father, the late Thomas E. Groehn, GM News Relations Direc tor, often spoke of spending his retirement years writing about "that character, 'C. E.' Wilson," credited with originating the 1948 contract concepts. I dedicate this to dad, who loved his work, and mom, who loved everything about him. I also dedicate i t to my husband, Adel, who having finished a doctorate in petroleum engineering, understood and patiently accepted the time I needed to spend travelling, researching and writing this. My thanks to my brother-in-law, Osama El-Messidi, for accomodations and pool contests while I worked in Norman, Oklahoma, and my cousin, Elizabeth Haarz Petersen, who helped me research and re-order the card catalog drawer I dropped. Without the generous help of Mr. Andrew Court of Detroit, Michigan, this project would never have been as much fun, nor as thorough, and I dedicate this to him, also. He gave me his time, interest and special genius. I am also grateful for the en couragement given me by Mrs. Carolyn Swan of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Dr. H. Wayne Morgan, my adviser, shared his knowledge of editing and authoring fifteen of his own works and returned corrected material promptly with cogent, straightforward criticism . I thank him for his professionalism. I appreciate the advice and support given me by V other committee members; Dr. David Levy, Dr. Arrell Gibson and Dr. Norman Crockett. Dr. Sidney Brown also nourished my efforts with his interest. Alexis Rodgers and Jo Gil of the University of Oklahoma's His tory Department, saw me through the traumas of graduate school and the formalities, fine points and typing skills required in this work. They merit deepest gratitude. Several helping hands and research centers facilitated this study. Mr. George Morris, GM Vice President, Industrial Relations Staff and Mr. Anthony DeLorenzo, GM Vice President in Charge of Public Relations, arranged for my access to helpful material at the General Motors Building in Detroit. They directed company personnel to dis cuss topics with me, which Mr. Clifford Merriott, GM News Relations Director, Mr. Jim Crellin of the GM News Relations Staff, and Mr. Wil liam Brunstad, Assistant Director of Labor Relations, did. This led me to study the 1948 GM-UAW Contract and its concepts. Mrs. Nettie Seabrooks and the GM Public Relations Library staff helped me locate books, magazine articles, biographies and speeches. A forty-five volume collection titled "Wage Escalator and Inflationary Spiral" from 1948 to the present provided a thorough source of published comments in the media. The volumes also surveyed productivity and long term contract coverage. Jim Crellin, of GM's News Relations section gave me free access to their 1948 bound volumes, which recorded media coverage of negotia tions and settlement and both GM and UAW-CIO press releases. Miss Joan Spring, Senior Statistician with GM's Economic Rela- vi tions Library, located pertinent research which company, government, union and independent organizations published. Mr. William Brunstad, Assistant Director of Labor Relations, guided my research in his de partment's materials. General Motors officials gave me access to certain vital but confidential information concerning the 1948 GM-UAW negotiations. My access to this material was restricted to and solely for my use as background information. It was made available so that my interviews with participants in the negotiations would be more meaningful. I am not permitted to quote from these documents nor describe the nature of them. Much of what they contained, fortunately, was corroborated by participants in the negotiations and was reported herein to the extent they were willing to permit attribution. The interviewees recreated and humanized a complex, technical subject. Without the informative, lively comments of Andrew Court and Louis Seaton, my study would have neglected outstanding interviewees and missed vital points. The Jack W. Skeels oral history, housed at Walter Reuther Labor Archives, D etroit, Michigan, detailed UAW and Communist Party activ ities prior to the 1948 settlement. It amply developed Reuther's rise to power, so crucial to my topic's background. Mr. Warner