LATEST UPDATES
UAW Solidarity
Item
- Title
- Date
- Alternative Title
- extracted text
-
UAW Solidarity
-
1968-09-01
-
Vol. 11 No. 9
-
The Survivor: Sen. Edward M. Kennedy
(D., Mass.), after 10 weeks of mourning,
faced the public and those who suggested he
retire for safety’s sake: ‘There is no safety
in hiding . . . Like my brothers before me,
I pick up a fallen standard. I shall try to
carry forward that special commitment to
to
justice, to excellence and
distinguished their lives.’’
Wis.)
.
=
tried
*
to
$268
a
delete
that
priorities
Proxmire
of
sense
bizarre
when Sen. William
Congress’
showed up
(D.,
courage
million
appropriation for increased
(!) B-52 bombing sorties in
Vietnam. He was defeated
though
“cost-cutters”
by
this important
he made
point: “For this year, the
entire cost of Head Start
for the whole nation—68z2,000 youngsters—is only
$295 million or only a little
more than the cost of es-
PROXMIRE
calating (!) the B-52 bombing in Vietnam.”
Also: the entire Federal expenditure for
maternal and child health services is less
than the cost of the bombing escalation.
Timing: Dublin’s organized street cleaners
went out on strike
Horse Show opened.
day
the
National
the
Proudest UAW Ford retiree these days
must be the chairman of Local 600’s retired
workers chapter, Walter Cassidy. In his coat
Sec.-Treas.
pocket is a memo from UAW
Emil Mazey stating 600’s chapter now has
10,007 members voluntarily paying $1 a
month dues. “‘And we're active!’ he adds.
Across the
450 members
international
question of
they struck,
of 36 cents
Border: In Windsor, Ont., some
of UAW Local 195 took on the
Bendix-Eclipse Corp. on the
wage parity. For seven weeks
emerged with parity increases
an hour on top of 17 cents for
productions workers, 47 cents for tradesmen.
McDermott:
Dennis
Dir.
Canadian
Said
“Several other vital items were in the bag.”
Julilee: TRB, The New Republic’s Washington news analysist, celebrated his 25th
year at the same typewriter, sharp-eyed and
dedicated as ever. A few lines from that
column: “It is the way things are stacked
against the poor and the incompetence of
Congress that irk us most. . .. The Poor
People’s Crusade put it in a nutshell—Sen.
James Eastland (D., Miss.) is paid $13,000 a
month not to grow crops and a starving
child on his plantation gets $9 a month in
welfare. You can’t justify it.”” Happy anniversary,
TRB,
whoever
are.
you
Tribute: The UAW’s David Miller was
honored as Michigan’s senior citizen of the
year “in the area of leadership.”’ The veteran
trade unionist works with UAW
retired
workers’ chapters across the country and
represents the union’s 200,000 retirees at sessions of the UAW Int’] Executive Board.
ALA
Comments:
When
the
Teamsters formed the Alliance
Action
Two
UAW
and
for Labor
(ALA), newspaper editorials flurried.
of them:
‘Whatever
the
alliance’s suc-
cess, its announced goals appear sound”
(Philadelphia Bulletin); “. . . they combined
their resources and talents to re-instill in
the labor movement some of the fervor and
social consciousness that once characterized
it” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).
Reg. 3 Dir. Ray Berndt received a call
from Terre Haute, Ind.: the Eugene V. Debs
Foundation on Sept. 21 will hand its award
in the field of labor and public service to
UAW Pres. Walter Reuther. Harry Golden,
author and humorist, will do the presenting.
Following is the latest monthly summary
of the UAW’s Strike Fund as issued by
Sec.-Treas. Emil Mazey:
Total fund assets, June 30 ...... $63,953,620.09
Income for July ........................ $ 3,135,976.88
Total to account for ................ $67,089,596.97
Disbursements, July ................ $ 2,199,093.31
Total resources, July 31 .......... $64,890,503.66
At the end of July, there were
in effect, involving
16,500
44 strikes
members.
(Continued on page 2)
Vol. 11, No. 9
September, 1968
Ca one UAW-won contract settlement actually be chalked up as a double victory?
For your answer, consider the union’s
recently - achieved, overwhelmingly - ratified,
pace-setting agreement with the McDonnellDouglas Corp.
With it, UAW’s 40,000 members at company plants in five states and Canada gained
the 1968 aerospace bargaining goals of “autoeconomic
total
settlement’s
Their
plus.”
value topped $1 an hour in wage and fringe
benefit improvements over the life of the
new contract.
|
That’s one victory.
It established several important “‘firsts’’ in
an aerospace industry settlement. These included a dental care plan, an “auto pattern”
guaranteed annual income program, a prescription drug plan and significant improvements in pension insurance and _ hospitalsurgical-medical protection.
UAW’s new McDonnell-Douglas contract
is especially important as the union moved
deeper this month into negotiations for 60,000 more aerospace workers at five big companies across the U.S.
_
Negotiations between UAW and the giant
North American Rockwell Corp. opened Aug.
19 at Los Angeles. Heading UAW’s bargaining team, as they did during McDonnellDouglas negotiations, were UAW President
Walter P. Reuther and Vice President Leonard Woodcock, director of the union’s Aerospace Dept. Almost a week earlier, UAW
negotiators held the first negotiating session
for a new agreement with Boeing’s Vertol
division at Morton, Pa. That came on Aug.
13. And on Aug. 23, bargaining sessions for
a new contract got underway with LingTemco-Vought in Dallas.
Also headed for the bargaining table within weeks are UAW and company negotiating
teams at L-T-V in Greenville, Texas; CurtissWright at Patterson, N.J. and Ryan Aeronautical, San Diego, Calif.
|
Job and income security—
the likes of which have not
been seen before by men and
women
in aerospace—have
UAW’s McDonnell-Douglas
members on cloud nine. Now,
to extend the pattern
A: all these bargaining tables, and for negotiations at other aerospace industry firms
as well, UAW’s tremendous agreement with
McDonnell-Douglas can well serve as this
year’s contract ‘‘pattern,” it’s been pointed
out.
Aside from its bargaining significance, it
also represents a dramatic victory over history. That’s the ‘twin win’ of the settlement.
Income security now is something more
than a dream for UAW members at McDonnell-Douglas, for example: the new contract enables them. to hold it, see it, feel it.
Past years have been a steady repetition
of “feast or famine’ for the industry and,
consequently, for its aerospace workers.
Huge defense orders meant steady work
7
and steady pay.
sudden,
meant
needs
defense
Shifting
sharp cutbacks, heavy layoffs, high, prolonged unemployment.
Many old-line companies relied on an antiquated “extended layoff benefits’ plan for
workers hit by layoffs.
ELB simply proved insufficient for its
stated purpose: when layoffs were heavy,
ELB often turned out to be not much more
than a pittance for large numbers of cutback workers and their families. And at
ones—ELB
major
firms—including
some
funds were drained out, leaving hundreds of
laid-off workers with no benefit payments.
Such happenings weren’t isolated. Between
1958 and 1965, for instance, 94,000 production jobs disappeared in the aerospace industry. At Ryan in San Diego, as one example,
blue-collar employment totaled 4,500 in 1957.
Three years ago, it had shrunk to less than
500. Even with increases since, it’s about
2,000 today—less than half the employment
|
of 11 years ago.
The Douglas Aircraft Co. was one of the
companies where ELB funds ran out during
the heavy cut-back and layoff of the late
1950s. That left many workers and their
families high and dry.
°
Doicia swung over to the UAW auto industry solution and agreed to a Supplemental
Unemployment Benefits plan in its 1965 negotiations with the union. The SUB program
was greatly improved this year in the union’s
new agreement with McDonnell-Douglas, the
successor company to the old Douglas firm.
It’s now a security-geared guaranteed annual income program. This provides McDonnell-Douglas workers with 75 per cent of
gross pay for each full week of layoff.
Moreover,
workers
also are assured longer
duration of benefits. Employes facing a layoff after having used some “credits” in a
prior layoff automatically receive some additional
guaranteed
annual
income
credit
units besides those they earned while on the
job.
To be sure these benefits are always available, the SUB fund is built up to provide
enough money to cover at least 20 weeks of
benefits for all people in the work force.
Obviously, only a portion would be affected
|
by any layoff.
ELB, however, is not held in a trust fund
as SUB is. ELB is only a paper accrual on
the company’s books, set up to provide only
a maximum
UAW
reserve of $150 per worker.
members
at
McDonnell-Douglas,
therefore, have the feel now of income security and they like it.
For workers at North American Rockwell, it’s a crucial contract goal.
September, 1968—UAW SOLIDARITY—Page 3
That’s
Hills
Lorne
biggest problem.
If you think Indians just chase around
with cowboys, you've been watching
the wrong channel. They’re people
haunted by people problems: food,
housing, jobs and discrimination
By JERRY HARTFORD
Of The SOLIDARITY Staff
The view from Rochester, N.Y. skyscrapers
wasn’t equal, in Lorne Hill’s eyes, to the
green and pleasant fields, the limestone cliffs
and the clear, blue water of the Cape Croker
Indian reserve on the southwest shore of
Georgian Bay, 175 miles north of Toronto.
from the Six Nations
Hill, a Mohawk
reserve near Brantford, Ont., decided to take
his Ojibway wife and their two children back
to her birthplace. That was seven years and
four children ago.
A member of the Ironworkers Union, Hill
gave up the big money of a high steel construction worker for the haphazard income
he
now
gets
from
a two-man
roofing
com-
pany partnership. He had been making his
way in the white man’s world since he was
15—and could have kept it up. But the big
money didn’t mean as much as being with
his wife and children where they were happy.
To understand the North American Indian, it helps to know Lorne Hill.
“The dollar is not a goal for the Indian,”
is one of the comments he makes which reveal the wide difference in values between
the white man and his predecessors on this
continent. Still, he knows the Indian must
survive in today’s industrial society. How to
do it without losing the Indian’s particular
values is the problem.
Something of the size of the problem can
be seen in recent Canadian government figures which show that 75 per cent of Indian
families in Canada have incomes of less than
$2,000 per year and 48 per cent have $1,000
or less.
Page 4—UAW
SOLIDARITY—September,
1968
But Hill is more disturbed about the way
Indians get their income than he is about
the amount.
“Most of the people are on government
welfare,” he comments flatly. Then with risdo you
‘‘What
ing concern:
think
the children when they see their
lying around month after month?
the parents?”’
it does
to
parents
And to
happens to children matters mightWat
ily to Lorne Hill.
It hurts him deeply that the death rate
among pre-school Indian children is eight
times the national average. It burns him that
85 per cent of Indian homes have no runhing water or flush toilets, no sewage, no
telephone.
The stereotype Indian doesn’t care about
those things. But Lorne Hill’s black eyes
flash when he mentions them.
It doesn’t help him any that the government two summers ago built a $35,000 com-
fort station—with flush toilets, hot and cold
running water—in the new Indian Park on
the reserve. For tourists during July and August.
And
to
salt
the
wound,
the
funds
of
the Cape Croker Indian Council were tapped
to help pay for it!
“Worst part of it,’ says Hill, who was first
elected to the council about that time, “is
that we weren’t consulted. We were just told
about it afterwards.”
Hill and others on the reserve (like Chief
Wilmer Nadjiwon) voice a common Indian
complaint when they talk about the white
man’s handling of the Indian.
So strong has the complaint become in re(Continued
on Page
12)
The PRB: Your
Right to Speak
Fi you have a complaint against your local
union or International union—or if you feel
action,
you’ve been wronged by some union
you can do something about it.
And you’ll have more help from within the
union in processing your grievance against it
than you can get on any protest anywhere
else.
UAW, when it wrote its first constitution,
recognized the fact that every democratic
organization makes mistakes.
First, it placed in that document every
protection of rights it could then conceive—
and then wrote additional safeguards over
the years as the need for them became apparent.
Second, it established an appeals procedure—and then strengthened it as no other
organization has.
Out
Board
of that endeavor the Public
sprang into life in 1957.
Review
The PRB is unique. It is an independent
body outside the union. Its decisions are final
and binding. No other organization provides
such independent public review of its actions.
UAW’s appeals procedures are extensive
because the union recognizes the need for
a grievance structure that guarantees that
the rights of not a single member get lost—
whether he’s a. member of a 25-member
amalgamated unit or of a sprawling 25,000member local. Or whether he’s in a plant in
Costa Mesa, Calif.; in Fergus Falls, Minn.; in
Elmira Heights, 'N., Y.; in Otter Lake, Ont.
or in Detroit.
The
appeals
~ democratic
procedure
structure
deals with the PRB
is
within
outlined
UAW’s
below
and
as well as internal steps.
The union has done more than provide all
these avenues of appeal. It removed the price
tag from the attainment of justice. That’s
Board’s
why the International Executive
three-man appeals committees journey to the
locality of the grievant. And that’s why the
PRB committee will either also go to that
locality or else bring the grievant, at the
board’s expense, to its Detroit headquarters
when
it deems
his presence
necessary.
l. now is more than 10 years since the PRB
was established by the 1957 convention.
Not everyone hailed the PRB’s creation.
There was apprehension within UAW over
the possible danger of giving a group of people outside the union—however distinguished
—authority over union matters relating to
members’ rights. After 10 years, President
Walter P. Reuther declares “that apprehension has been dissipated as the Public Review Board has proved its capacity to render
objective judgments
and as the evidence
mounted that, in serving individual members,
the PRB was serving the UAW as a whole
and rendering great assistance in making a
democratic union even more democratic.”
In its 10th annual report to UAW’s membership, the PRB shows that it received 189
appeals and 456 informal complaints and
inquiries. Its financial statement discloses
that the cost of its operation has averaged
little more than three cents per member
per year.
Only nine new appeals were filed during
1967, the lowest annual number since the
board came into being. Sixteen decisions
were handed down last year. The IEB was
upheld in eight cases, reversed in one. Four
were dismissed because they were outside
the PRB’s jurisdiction, one was dismissed
because a grievant refused to supply additional information, one was withdrawn by
the appellants and one remanded to the IEB
for further study.
The board is charged with responsibility
in protecting the rights of individual members and UAW subordinate bodies but it cannot, as defined in the constitution, ‘review
Up
in any way an Official collective bargaining
policy of the International union” as determined and approved by the membership.
_ The PRB’s staff and facilities are available
to UAW members by letter, telephone or
personal visit to the board headquarters:
2102 David Stott Bldg., Detroit, Mich. 48226.
Telephone: 313/965-4950. Copies of its reports are available to UAW members upon
request.
Cees
of the
is Msgr.
PRB
George
G.
Higgins. Serving with him are Dr. Jean T.
McKelvey, Dr. Henry Hitt Crane, Judge
George N. Leighton, Rabbi Jacob J. Wein-
stein, Dr. Robben W. Flemming and Professor Harry W. Arthurs.
In submitting the annual report, Msgr.
Higgins pointed out: ‘In 10 years we have
discovered no instance of corrupt practices
of instances we _ have
and in a number
pointed out procedural deficiencies which
have subsequently been corrected.
“Tt is at the same time a source of disappointment that others have not followed
where the UAW has led for surely the labor
movement would ‘be instantly strengthened
were but these procedures for voluntary selfdiscipline adopted by other major labor unor confederations
-jons
of unions.’
The report gives further testimony to the
soundness of public review ‘to assist in
achieving and maintaining the high democratic and moral standards which have always been our objective,”’ said Reuther.
“The point is not that we have reached
some
ideal
democracy
but
shortcomings
of members.”
in
that
have
we
found and developed in the Public Review
Board a reliable democratic feedback mechanism which can discover and remedy bu-
reaucratic
complaints
redressing
the
Step by Step: the Right of Appeal
Ax UAW members and their local unions
have the right of appeal. A member may
appeal “any action, decision or penalty of (a
local union or other subordinate) body or
of any official or representative of that body’”’
under extensive provisions of Article 32 of
the International UAW Constitution. These
are the steps:
e An appeal to a local union membership
meeting.
e If dissatisfied with the local decision, an
appeal to the International Executive Board
which sets up the following procedures:
Study and/or hearing by a three-man IE:B
committee
which
does
not
include
the
direc-
tor of the region in which the appeal originates.
Recommendation by the three-man committee to a nine-man committee which shall
render a decision and send copies to all
board members.
Full IEB
action
on the appeal
if one
or
tional union prior to appealing to a civil
court or governmental agency for redress.”’
Additional procedures are established for
alleged violations of UAW ethical practices
codes by the International union or any of
its officers or representatives. The steps:
e An appeal to a local membership meeting.
e An appeal to the IEB which must transmit a copy of the complaint to the PRB.
e An appeal to the PRB.
e In the absence of an appeal, the PRB
may act independently ‘if it concludes there
is substance to the original complaint and
that the action of the IEB does not satisfactorily meet the problem.”
A member may appeal directly to the IEB
if “there are valid and substantial reasons
for the request to bypass the local step.”
_ The IEB, by majority action, may itself directly submit to the PRB any ethical practices matter covered in the constitution
more members raise an objection to the committee decision.
e Appeal to the next UAW constitutional
convention or to the Public Review Board.
If the PRB dismisses the appeal because of
lack of jurisdiction, the member may appeal
to the convention.
Section 13 of Article 32 stipulates: “It
shall be the duty of any member or subordinate body who feels aggrieved by any action,
decision or penalty imposed upon him or it to
exhaust his or its remedy and all appeals
therefrom under the laws of this Interna-
‘ September, 1968—UAW SOLIDARITY—Page 5
UAW’s
Mining
You can find UAW members
just about anywhere—but
have you tried looking
straight
down?
By GRANT HARRISON
A SOLIDARITY Special
rail, lake freighter and truck to all parts of
Canada
d
an
.
rs
ca
e
uc
od
pr
s
er
mb
me
W
UA
e
S ad
trucks—others produce the means to destroy
could underin the process,
and,
them
mine even Solidarity House since it rests far
atop some of its keenest members. But that
possibility should be taken with a grain of
salt.
On
the westside
of Windsor,
Ont.,
across
the river from Detroit, 160 members of the
UAW spend their working hours in a kind
of science fiction world, deep beneath a city
and a good many thousand other VDAW members who can see daylight from their presses,
their drafting boards, their typewriters or
|
their computers.
Five days a week and 24 hours round the
clock, they work at the 1,000-foot level mining rock salt from the vast Michigan-Ontario
salt basin. Their surroundings, according to
geologists, were formed 350 million years
ago—or so—when a long arm of the Atlantic
withdrew from what is now North America.
Rich beds of salt were left behind, to be
covered up by succeeding eras.
Now, UAW members penetrate this barrier of time and do it routinely. Underground, they travel on lighted roads that
finger out in all directions, never disturbing
the surface world. Their product is taken by
Page 6—UAW
SOLIDARITY—September,
1968
and
America’s
midwest.
This great salt bed extends southward from
Inverhuron, Ont., to Lake Erie and westward from London, Ont., almost to Lake
Michigan in one great saucer-shaped formation 800 feet deep at the edges and 5,000 feet
underground at the center.
The rich salt bed at the Ojibway mine in
Windsor is 250 feet thick. The main shaft
stretches east for over a mile to the current
digging area where you’re likely to find 39year-old Eugene Desjardins of UAW Local
195, at the controls of an undercutting
machine that slices a 50-foot cross-section of
salt wall to a depth of 10 feet.
Married with four children, Desjardins
started work with the Canadian Rock Salt
Co. 13 years ago when the mine shaft was
first sunk. By now his job is routine and the
fear his family first felt almost forgotten.
“T had to bring my wife down into the
mine shaft several times before she overcame her fear of my job,” he said. While his
particular job is one of the loneliest, positioned
at the 5,780-foot end of the shaft, mining is
not something new to Desjardins. Before
coming to Windsor he worked in a gold mine
at Kirkland Lake in Ontario’s north country.
In another section of the mine a Jumbo
driller with twin hydraulic arms is boring
10-foot deep holes into the grey-white walls
undercut by Desjardins. Carbonado-tipped
drills in machine-gun
fashion bore holes in
the wall’s chalky surface.
Manipulating the twin drilling arms is the
job of Italian-Canadian Johnny Mele, 41.
Mele has been a member of Local 195 since
the mine first opened in 1955.
“Working in the salt mine is like any other
that
thing
only
‘‘The
said.
Mele
job,”
frightens my wife is when we have a power
failure.”
Mrs. Mele’s fear is understandable. In midJuly a power failure trapped 16 miners in the
main elevator shaft when a surface crane
operator accidently severed a powerline that
supplied all electricity to the mine. The men
huddled together in the cramped elevator for
two hours before surface workers put an
emergency
generator
into service.
B.: to most of the UAW salt miners, working underground differs little from the men
working in a factory. The fact they are ina
mine shaft 1,000 feet below the earth’s surface rarely causes concern.
51, a
Mine superintendent John Hogg,
former member of Local 195, said there is
no comparison between salt mining and other
types of mining. His first contact with mining was at the age of 16 in the coal fields of
Scotland.
“Salt mining is far superior and a lot
safer,” he said. “In coal mining there is always the presence of gas to contend with.”
Hogg said the men were safety conscious and
g
lin
cei
ft
sha
ne
mi
the
of
ks
ec
ch
l
ua
in
nt
co
have prevented any cave ins.
Powder-men on the night shift sink dynamite sticks. into the holes bored by the
driller. The electrically detonated
Jumbo
charges are set off at two each morning,
allowing five hours for the smoke and salt
dust to clear before the day shift starts
work.
Each blast loosens about 600 tons of rock
salt. By week’s end some 33,000 tons of rock
salt crystals are conveyed to surface storage
areas to be transported by lake freighter,
truck and boxcar for use on Canadian and
U.S. highways in the winter.
After each blast a three man chipping
crew knocks down any loose material from
the ceiling of the mine shaft and keeps an
eye out for any weakened section which
could cause a Cave in.
All machinery and equipment in the mine
is powered by diesel and electric motors.
Government legislation covering the mining
industry prohibits the use of gasoline in any
form
in underground
operations.
T. an outsider first entering the
like decending into a strange new
As you
mines are
your first
the mine’s
is a joint
mine, it’s
world.
enter the first room (most salt
called “room and pillar’ mines)
contact with subterranean life is
experimental garden. The garden
project conducted by the Ontario
Hydro Commission and the biology department of the University of Windsor and is
living proof that sub tropical plants can sur-
vive and flourish without sunlight. The heat
and light the four-year-old garden receives
is supplied by fluoresent lighting.
as UAW
routine
the’ same
Following
miners at the start of each shift, you board
a 20-passenger wagon drawn by a diesel
tractor and start your trip into the heart of
the mine. The tractor moves along on a wide
salt road parallel to a large conveyor belt
that runs the length of the mine moving the
salt to the surface. A bitter salt-dirt taste is
always on your lips.
The temperature remains at an almost
constant 68 degrees. A huge ventilating system circulates 225,000 cubic feet of fresh air
through the mine every minute. The salt
walls absorb most of the humidity as the air
is forced through the shaft by a series of
push fans.
As you approach the main center of acdump _ trucks
rubber-tired
heavy
tivity,
straddle an open mouth hopper emptying
their 20-ton loads into the waiting jaws of
a crusher. Each piece of heavy equipment
was lowered into the mine part by part and
reassembled in a completely outfitted sub-
terranean workshop.
The Ojibway mine is Canada’s largest rock
salt mine producing over one million tons
annually. The salt is sold in bulk mainly for
highway use and for industrial and chemical
firms.
Deep beneath the twin cities of Detroit
and Windsor,
Ont., men
probe salt beds
formed millions of years ago. They
point with pride to tropical plants
they’re able to grow. They travel white
roads with white walls and white ceilings (above) while conveyor belts rush
tons of salt toward the surface. At left,
they put together and
mining equipment.
Photos
maintain
by Irv and Colleen
heavy
King
Contract negotiations open this month for
the UAW salt miners. Plant chairman Dave
Kenny said most of the contract amendments have been drafted and the union’s
proposals will be submitted to the company
by mid-month.
The only major complaint the UAW
mem-
bers have working in the mine is the powder
and engine fumes that are not always cleared
out by the ventilating system. Kenny said
the men complain of headaches and use aspirins like they’re going out of style.
The average wage at the mine is $2.70 an
hour plus cost-of-living. Miners receive an
additional 10 cents for working underground,
plus 12 cents
shift premium.
As far as new wage demands are concerned, well Kenny said: ‘we expect more
than a pinch of salt.”
For five years, Grant Harrison has been promembers
ducing The Guardian for UAW
(plus several hundred workers who belong
to other unions) in and around the Windsor,
Ont. area. His readers include everything
from distillery workers to perfume workers
—plus those who make automobiles.
September, 1968—UAW SOLIDARITY—Page 7
Pie cet
lil
ei
babs
%
South Haven, Mich. has its
“Oy
men and women who refuse
to knuckle under to the
edi bse
pe
a
Sats
South Haven Rubber Co.
x
A:
first glance, South Haven, Mich. is the
kind of town you’d like to retire to: it’s along
Lake Michigan’s eastern shore, the air is
invigorating
and
anytime
the
big
city
beckons, well, the freeway is just 20 miles to
the south connecting Detroit and muchnearer Chicago.
The big cities beckon but they don’t seem
to hold South Haven natives very long—in
fact, a poll of the 141 men and women
striking the South Haven Rubber Co. indicates a clear hometown pride.
-No angry management is going to drive
them away.
It’s on the second glance that the strike
becomes a factor in considering retirement
or just late summer vacationing in South
Haven.
The entire area knows of the strike, knows
most of the issues, knows of the hardship of
their striking neighbors, knows the company
has shown something less than respect for
the laws of America which say workers have
a right to join a union—but the community
has remained docile (except for one bright
occasion) as though these men and women
were not theirs.
|
So: Mrs. Leona Mielke keeps working in
the strike kitchen, serving meals to strikers
and ticking the days off the wall calendar.
“There’re a lot of X’s between now and last
February 3,” she said.
|
o
So: Norman Baker, 32, Local 1425’s presi-
|
|
dent, keeps his fingers crossed and grows
proueer every day of the men and women he
eads.
So: Mrs. Anne Adamski walks the dirt
ANNE ADAMSKI
—22 years in South Haven—
Page 10—UAW SOLIDARITY—Septem ber,
road
in
front
of
South
Haven
Rubber;
Gordon Powers wonders about his mortgage
1968
payments and son Michael who starts to
school for the first time this month; little
Angela Jordan is only three, longs to start
school too and to kill time walks the picket
line with
her grandmother,
Mrs.
Vary
Jordan.
~ And Solomon Newell is convinced his five
youngsters understand why there was no
summer vacation this year.
“If the community took a solid stand,
we'd be at peace,” said Baker.
By mid-September, their fate will be decided in a government-conducted election.
Region
ID Director Kenneth Robinson has
toured the length and breadth of his large
region (west and northern Michigan) telling
the South Haven strike story.
“You could call it a ‘little Kohler strike,’
but the only thing little about it is that fewer
people are involved. They’re human beings,
all the same, dedicated and courageous and
they’re up against the same kind of -Kohlertype management.”’
The UAW is new on the South Haven
Rubber scene although no stranger to the
‘town. National Motors Castings Local 90 is
nearby and so is Bohn Aluminum Local
1210.
“The members of those locals have been
great,’ said Norman Baker. ‘And with Ken
(Robinson) getting around to tell our story,
other
locals are now
making life on a strike
better.”
For several
workers. were
contributing
paycheck a
and
little
years, South Haven Rubber|
represented by a company
+
.
—
companies for stalling
g the South Have
It’s that simple” —
in
y
rl
ea
W
A
U
e
th
to
ed
rn
tu
union. They
ly
er
op
pr
’t
dn
ul
co
”
on
ni
“u
r
ei
th
e
1966 becaus
represent them.
25 of that year—nearly 28
On May
months ago—the National Labor Relations
h
ic
wh
on
ti
ec
el
an
ed
is
rv
pe
su
B)
LR
(N
Board
n.
io
un
a
t
ns
ai
ag
te
vo
er
rk
wo
e
on
t
no
saw
e
“in
e
th
d
an
W
UA
e
th
re
we
ot
ll
ba
e
On th
ce
oi
ch
e
th
s
wa
W
UA
e
Th
’
’”
n.
io
un
t
en
nd
depe
of the majority.
ay
-d
12
a
r
te
af
t
bu
d
ge
ag
dr
ns
io
at
ti
go
Ne
—
ct
ra
nt
co
st
fir
r
ei
th
d
ha
s
er
rk
wo
e
th
,
ke
stri
a one-year
agreement
up
came
that
re-
for
newal last Nov. 4. The company’s economic
offer for a three-year, contract amounted
only to 32 cents an hour, far less than South
Haven Rubber could afford, far short of
meeting the workers’ wage, insurance and
pension needs. The company wouldn’t budge
and for the second time in two years its
workers were forced to strike.
things started to happen almost imPid
people
“Four
said Robinson.
mediately,’
people crossed the picket line, went into the
plant and filed for a decertification election?’
South
According to Federal law—and
Haven Rubber’s lawyers know Federal law—
the petition prevented the company and
Local 1425 from reaching an agreement. The
outcome of the petition and possible new
election had to be decided before there could
be any strike-ending negotiations.
Said Robinson: “Well, the NLRB set last
_
March 4 as the date of
election. Local 1425 was
the decertification
confident it could
win and so, apparently, did our opposition.
“Then another peculiar thing happened:
one of those unusual four strikebreakers
filed an unfair labor charge against the DAW
and that prevented any NLRB election from
taking place!
“Local 1425 was faced with this kind of
situation: the finalizing of a new contract
was prevented by the pending election but
that election was stalled by the pending
LEONA MIELKE
—the days fall away—
charge.”
«SOLOMON NEWELL
—school for Vincent—
the
recognized
1425’s members
Local
crossfire. The company secured an injunction
limiting picketing. Over coffee in their strike
kitchen, Local 1425’s members could only
grumble about the tangle of laws woven
around them.
Four
leading
clergymen
an
and
busi-
area
nessman formed a citizens committee, hoping
to clarify the muddle. First, though, they
thought the town should know if the strikers
really wanted the UAW.
“Every member of the bargaining unit
received a letter from the committee notifying them of the committee’s advisory vote.
The letter was sent to strikers and _ nonstrikers, including those who had crossed the
picket lines in answer to an earlier company
call to strikebreak,”’ said Robinson.
The ballot simply asked, in effect: do you
still want the UAW?
The result: 190 voted yes, nine voted no.
Last
strikers
citizens
Rubber
April
but
22
was
it soon
committee
from
behind
a happy
became
could
the
pry
web
day
evident
South
for
that
of laws.
-
the
no
Haven
They save money by stalling. It’s that
simple. The UAW has said it many times
before in petitions to Washington,
D.C.
Stalling means money. Maybe even total
victory.
When the September vote is conducted,
some 150 men and women who daily cross
Local 1425’s picket line will be eligible to
vote as will the 141 who remained on strike.
It looks like a narrow loss looming but
Norman Baker is hopeful: “Whenever the
people
inside
think
of their
future,
they’re
bound to think how helpless they can be
without a real union on the job. And around
here, we think of our future being here.”
WALTER SCHREIBE
—sightless but not blind—
:
GORDON POWERS
—Peggy, two children at home—
September, 1968—UAW SOLIDARITY—Page 11
LIVING
OUTDOORS
Which Ducks
Are
Fastest?
By FRED GOETZ
SOLIDARITY Outdoors Writer
Many
oldtime
scattergunners
avowed that a teal was the fastest of all ducks, perhaps influ-
enced by the recognized authority
of the day, Francis H. Buzzacott, author of books on outdoor
subjects around the turn of the
century. He estimated a speed of
120 miles per hour for teal.
Today’s wildlife biologists contend that ducks—including mal45
lards and pintails—average
miles per hour. So I guess Buzzy
wasn’t too far off when he estimated speeds from 40 to 60 for
these species.
But the teal, today’s experts
claim, is not as fast as the aforementioned larger ducks. No doubt
These Patterns
Are Free
~——
==
Kes.
its smaller size and erratic flight
pattern, which makes it harder
to hit, gives the shooter that impression.
And Buzzy wasn’t too far off
he estimated canvasback
when
speed at 100 miles per hour. Arbook,
his’
in
Kortright,
thur
of
Swans
and
Geese
“Ducks,
North America,” a waterfowler’s
bible, credits the canvasback with
a 72-mile per hour speed; adds
another 20 miles per hour “in a
.
strong tail wind.”
Today’s biologists, in estimating duck speeds, are aided by
precision stop watches and tailing aircraft. Buzzy was ‘‘calculating, just calculating.”’
*
*
Easy-to-Build
&
Frank G. Westerman of Lakeland, Fla., a member of Local 596,
now retired from the workaday
world, scored handily on a recent
junket to one of the man, waterfilled pits in town—14_ channel
cats in just two hours of fishing.
For The Handyman
By STEVE ELLINGSON
SOLIDARITY
Edward L. Barney of Mansfield, Ohio, a member of Local
ting his share of winter fishing
later on. ‘“Top spot for ice fishing
last season,” says Ed, “‘was Know
He
Fredericktown.
near
Lake
filled many a stringer of poundsized bluegill from the fish-lush
waters.
*
*&
Before getting off the subject
of midwest catches, here’s a pic
of Steve Kosnita
of
a
Chicago,
member
of Local
1301, with
a
chunky pike he
nailed down from
Lake
Pokegama
in northern Wisconsin.
(Thanks
to Mrs. Kosnita
who sent in pic
and note.)
*
Lewis
Iola, both
*
livery; for speedier air mail delivery, add 25 cents per pattern.
*
and
his wife
the
of Local
members
Osborne.
Also
Hunting
Gardner
members
with
and
1097, they also downed
deer that dressed close
pounds.
*
If you save the scraps when a
job is done, you can create a
pleasing plaything for the little
ones of the family. The Mexican
doll shown is made of rug yarn
and fabric scraps. Instructions are
in free Leaflet PPE
a
1353.
To add the personal touch to
the latest fashion fad, ropes of
beads,
crochet
your
own
like
those shown. This chained rope
is crocheted
of
gold
metallic
“Knit-Cro-Sheen.”’ Colored wooden beads are sewn to the loops.
It measures one and three-fourths
yards long. For free instructions,
write for Leaflet PC 9918.
Either or both of the leaflets
can be obtained by sending a
stamped, self-addressed No. 10
envelope with your request to
Needlecraft, VAW SOLIDARITY,
8000 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit,
Mich. 48214.
*
Lew
Jack
of Local
a buck
to 150
*
Chalk up a top catch from the
of
Herzog
for Jim
saltchuck
Bridegport, N.Y., a member of
Local 624, who says he’s enjoying his retirement, particularly
when he can take off for a “go”
at those denizens of the briny off
Florida shores. Last time out he
nipped a pair of groupers that
weighed 23 and 25 pounds respectively; not bad for openers.
:
*
*
*
UAW members in good standing—and members of their families—can earn a
pair
of
fishing¢
lures.
All that’s
required is a clear snapshot of a
fishing or hunting scene and a
few words about the photo. Mail
to Fred Goetz, UAW SOLIDAR-.
ITY Outdoors Dept., Box 508,
Portland,
Ore.
97207.
Please
mention your local number and
include your zip code. Of course,
retired members are eligible.
pieces
are
rectangular,
and
for a small charge, your lumber
dealer will saw them to size for
you. The sabre saw may be used
for making the legs. An elaborate
set of tools is not needed for this
project.
Full-size
Expandable
Table
Pattern No. 334 is only 75 cents.
1097, Rochester, N.Y., and they
both are avid hunt-and-fish fans.
They’ll be looking forward to another successful hunt in Allegheny
County of New York state where
Lew nailed a buck dressed out at
150 pounds.
were Harold
Writer
offers plenty of writing surface,
plus eight drawers for files and
Pattern
Desk
Trestle
supplies.
No. 435 costs 75 cents.
Order
patterns
from
Steve~
SOLIDARITY
UAW
Ellingson,
Pattern Dept., P.O. Box 2283,
Van Nuys, Calif. 91409.
Send currency, check or money
order. Allow two weeks for de-
Carpenter
are
Hobby
table
dining
eracious
This
opens to a mighty eight feet and
will easily serve ten persons. Half
opened, it serves four. Folded, it
extends a mere 17 inches from
the wall. The 32-inch width is
ample for the most sumptuous
dinner.
With the exception of the four
gate legs, the table was made
from a single 4’ x 8’ panel of plywood, so you see—the cost is
slight.
will find this an easy
You
project, even for those who live
in apartments and whose principal tool is a sabre saw. Most of
' 549, says when he gets his fill of
summer angling he’ll lay off for
a spell with an eye toward get-
*
Project
-
Matching Dining Chair Pattern
No. 347 is 35 cents.
The
handsome
trestle
desk
shown here with Karen Huston
is not only adequate, but styled in
such a way that it may be used
in almost any room in your home.
You'll notice that it’s designed in
such a way that it takes up a
minimum
of floor space,
45
cents.
and
Hall
Monty
but still
Here’s a dog house that has
plenty of room and is off the
ground to keep it dry. The fullsize pattern makes it an easy
project for man or boy. Ask for
Dog House Pattern No. 448 at
Carol Merrill of
“Let’s
NBC’s
Deal”
a
Make
show off a three-
piece camp kitchen you may want
to start now for
next season. The
and _ two
table
cabinets fold for
easy transportation and storage.
Ask
for
No.
446;
Kitchen
cents.
Camp
Pattern
it’s
75
September, 1968—UAW SOLIDARITY—Page 13
te pen
THE INFLATION
SEASON:
s
'
r
e
b
m
e
t
p
e
S
e
r
Bewa
s
e
c
i
r
P
n
I
t
s
o
o
B
Big
By
Sidney
SOLIDARITY
Margolius
Consumer
the stores and manufacturers
Writer
Your living costs will hit a new
peak this September before they
level off for the fall. Among the
problems you’ll have to outwit
this month by careful buying are
higher prices for clothing, bread
|
and housing.
have
which
prices,
Clothing
been relatively stable during the
e
ar
w
no
n,
io
at
fl
in
of
s
ar
ye
nt
ce
re
catching up with the price raisshoes.
ing parade — especially
You’ll notice the difference when
you
shop
for
this month
school
clothes, although prices will ease
in October when the fall sales
begin.
The truth is that retailers have
pyramided the clothing price rise
by boosting their tags even more
than the increase at wholesale.
taking a bigger
percentage and
The stores are
profit both in
dollars.
Here’s
the
situation.
While
wholesale prices of apparel in
general have risen 3.6 per cent in
one year, retail prices have gone
up 5.6 per cent. Normally if retailers raised prices the same percentage as the wholesale increase,
they would still geta large dollar profit. But by getting a higher
they
too,
markup
percentage
have boosted the prices you pay
by more than twice the wholesale
increase.
For example, the
for the $100 worth
stores’ cost
of clothing
you buy for your family usually is
about
eeR
e
HO egeen
nae
nae
$65. If wholesale
prices go
up 3.6 per cent, that means stores
$2.34
manufacturers
the
pay
more‘f stores raised their prices
only the same 3.6 per cent, you
would pay $3.60
bad enough. But
_are trying to get
that $100 worth
more, which is
this time they
$5.60 more for
of clothing.
To help restrain your costs,
you have to understand that not
manufacturers
and
stores
all
raise prices by the same amount
or at the same time. You should
comparison-shop more widely.
This is noticeable this year in
the disparity in prices of children’s school clothes, with some
stores and manufacturers chargmore _ than
significantly
ing
is
situation also
This
others.
noticeable in food. In preparing
this report, we found round roast
priced from $1.09 a pound to
$1.59; bacon, 69 cents to $1.19,
and pork loin from 49 to 79 cents.’
Here are other tips on September needs.
Children’s
Clothing
pushing this fall happen to be
turtleneck
The
practical. ones.
knit shirt is not only currently
“fashionable” for youngsters of
all ages, it also makes sense because of its warmth, no ironing
(at some
and reasonable cost
stores).
shirts,
knit
in buying
But
whether turtle or ordinary tee
shirts, look for firm, even knit
to avoid the frequent tendency
to shrink in length while stretching in width. A blend of synthetic
fiber such as acrylic or polyester
is helpful both for additional
dimensional stability and wear
knit
all-cotton
In
resistance.
shirts, combed cotton is stronger
than _ ordinary
smoother
and
cotton.
turtleneck _ shirts
buying
In
especially, look close for resilient
knitting at the collar to insure
shape
In Overtime
retention
resist-
and wear
ance.
And, fortunately, corduroy is
“fashionable” this year for both
boys’ jackets and girls’ school
jumpers.
Cars
September is the month dealers cut prices to clear this year’s
models. But watch out for highoressure selling. Before you ask
for a quotation,
the salesman
look at the price sticker that all
new cars must have. This shows
the “suggested retail price” and
destination and handling charges.
Figure that on moderate-price
cars the dealer has 18-20 per cent
margin, or $450-$500 on a $2,500
ear. In some cases at this time
of year he may also get a “merchandising
allowance’
of
$50-
$100 from the factory to help
move the factory’s remaining inventory. Thus a disceunt of $200$300, depending on the dealer’s
inventory situation and the popube
may
larity of the model,
feasible.
Watch out for so-called “‘dem-
onstrator” and ‘‘executive’’ models. Not that these are necessarily poor buys if the price is reasonable enough. But you should
not consider them the equivalent
of a new car, especially if they
do not carry the full new-car
warranty.
The mildest
of the violence
Fortunately, some of the styles
Seek Changes
are
Law
LANSING, Mich.—UAW has
called for state provisions to
eliminate overtime restrictions
based on sex and to make
excessive overtime voluntary.
UAW Women’s Dept. staff
Haener
Dorothy
member
urged the Michigan OccupaCommission
tional Standards
to: place strict limitations on
the overtime hours that can be
required of any worker, regardless of sex, race or age;
permit individual workers, as a
to decide
matter,
voluntary
whether they want to work
overtime; and control overtime
for all workers, primarily for
health, safety and welfare reasons.
,
Page 14—UAW SOLIDARITY—September, 1968
Detroit
Roland,
artist
Arthur
first
who won
prize in the 1968 UAW
Art
Festival
Summer
with
his oil entitled The
Whisper, receives the appropriate citation from
UAW
Canadian Region
Director
Dennis
McDer-
mott. A Chrysler employee
for 10
years,
Roland was a member
Local 227.
of
Win Region 3
JFK Scholarship
INDIANAPOLIS—A girl from
Anderson, Ind. and a boy from
South Bend have been named
winners of UAW Region 3’s first
Annual JFK Memorial Education
Scholarships, Region 3 Director
Raymond H. Berndt announced.
The winners are Linda Louis
Peyton, a student at Anderson
High School, and David Betz, of
High
Jackson
Bend’s
South
,
School.
Miss Peyton is the daughter of
Harold Roy Peyton. Betz is the
son of Mr. and Mrs. Laurence R.
Betz.
The JFK Memorial Scholarship
is valued at $1,000, payable $250
annually for a four-year period
by the
at the college chosen
award winner. The competition is
open to sons and daughters of
UAW members in the region.
A three-member panel of Indiana University faculty judged
the competition.
Edwards’ Staffers
Get New Duties
International Executive Board
Member-at-large
Nelson
Jack
Edwards has assigned two members of his staff to new duties in
the Independents, Parts & Supplier Dept., which he heads.
been
has_
Callison
William
named assistant director of the
department. He previously served
as assistant director of the Kelsey-Hayes and Budd Depts.
Also assigned to duties in the
Supplier
Parts
Independents,
Dept. is International Representative Willie G. Brooks, formerly
assigned to the Foundry Dept.
Foundry Conference
To Meet In Memphis
UAW’s 23rd foundry wage and
hour conference will be held in
Memphis, Tenn. Sept. 20-22, announced International Executive
Nelson
Member-at-large
Board
director of. the
Jack Edwards,
Foundry Dept.
Some 200 delegates from more
than 250 foundries around the
country are expected to attend.
Dinner Marks
Reuther Chair
DETROIT—Ford
Marcellius
member
At Institute
r
he
ot
of
s
ve
ti
ta
en
es
pr
re
members,
ss
ne
si
bu
,
ts
is
nt
ie
sc
,
ns
io
un
labor
d
an
s
or
at
uc
ed
n,
me
gy
er
cl
n,
me
W
A
U
r
no
ho
ll
wi
s
al
ci
fi
of
ic
bl
pu
at
r
he
ut
Re
P.
er
lt
Wa
t
en
id
Pres
Committee
Institute
Weizmann
The new director of the west
with
region
area
side Detroit
74,000 members in 22 locals is a
has
who
unionist
52-year-old
e
nc
si
W
A
U
of
er
mb
me
a
en
be
1937. He joined Local 236 when
Science,
of
Cobo
in
held
be
will
dinner
the
two Local 600 delegates, Robert
Battle III and Don Liddell.
the
for
his
bl
ta
es
e
th
rk
ma
ll
wi
d
an
Hall
-ment, in perpetuity, of the Walter
going to work at the L. A. Young
Spring and Wire Corp. that year.
He later worked in three Ford
plants and has been a member of
Locals 600 and 400 as well as
|
Local 36.
He held elective office in each
local, including service as_ vice
president and bargaining committee chairman of Local 400, a
union district committeeman at
Local 600, and a bargaining committee member at Local 36 until
to the UAW
his appointment
P. Reuther Professorial Chair in
of Atomic
Uses
Peaceful
the
ist
In
nn
ma
iz
We
e
th
at
gy
er
En
,
th
vo
ho
Re
in
e
nc
ie
Sc
of
tute
Israel.
l
i
m
E
r
e
r
u
s
a
e
r
T
y
r
a
t
e
r
c
e
UAW S
rte
In
e
th
of
n
a
m
r
i
a
h
c
is
Mazey
,
e
e
t
t
i
m
m
o
C
g
n
i
r
o
s
n
o
p
S
al
on
nati
Joel R.
Dr.
200
pub-
than
more
international
of
composed
American and
lic figures.
of the
one
Gat,
Institute’s most brilliant physi-
first in-
cists, has been named
cumbent of the chair.
of Region
the umpire the union’s position in
disputes.
Ivory was born in Dyersberg,
,
Tenn.
UAW
by
chaired
convention,
d
an
r
he
ut
Re
P.
er
lt
Wa
t
en
id
es
Pr
attended by several International
members,
Board
Executive
elected Ivory, of Local 36, over
ag
im
is
“h
r
fo
er
nn
di
19
t.
Oc
an
s
on
ti
bu
ri
nt
co
ve
ti
va
no
in
e,
iv
inat
_to human advancement.”
of the
auspices
the
Under
American
director
staff
has
1A. He succeeds veteran UAW
leader Joseph McCusker who died
in June.
Delegates to a special regional
UAW
2,000
DETROIT—Some
elected
been
Dept.
Ivory
Ford Dept. staff in 1963. At the
time of his election, he was asdepartment’s
the
to
signed
arbitration section, presenting to
He is directing the research of
ust
of
s
ie
ud
st
e
th
d
an
ts
is
nt
scie
s
ie
it
il
ib
ss
po
ld
fo
ni
ma
e
th
in
s
dent
of
n
io
at
ic
pl
ap
ul
ef
ac
pe
e
th
of
nuclear energy to the problems of
and prevention of
the curing
disease, of discovering new
sources of fresh water for arid
and
of
production.
_ founded
«... “eminent
--~<-
ters.”
in 1944,
one
as
of
scientific
world,
food
Institute,
Weizmann
garded
<
world’s
the
increasing
The
of the
areas
infertile
re-
is already
the
world’s
|
|
research cen-—
The Institute itself is providing
half the total cost—$500,000—of
endowing the Walter P. Reuther
chair. The other half is being subscribed to by the UAW Internaother
tional and local unions,
interested
organizations,
labor
business firms and individuals.
MARCELLIUS IVORY _
|
—rises to leadership—
No ld ASAD
Ais osenmned ey
ae
Coen uaSarnaLaeennetsaoe ceremeteratoaen
aes sd ea
ama cemiWeene
nb alanansmen
ohaisccaSeman
eS
cetecete
esata
acess
s
e
a
s
S
e
eseseseseceneseseecncnnee
eratasatats
easesetecesococscenseecceceeoc
eeeeeesereeerenetttene
eescatatatatetotatenetetoretssiesscseneeeeesssrener
ee
ee
e etc
ee
ata
a
ee
eta
ate
ee
eee
etonotatetat
eee
eee
eee
eee
.
sees
eee
eae
ee
e'e'e
"ereteretetete
SS ""e"e"e"e'e" oreo e
2 6.6.6.6 6 9 2 6 ©
2 6 2%
6 6%
2 60
2
6 6 2%
0 0 © @ 2.8.
tata
tate tatetetetetatetetetatetetetet eee
ateteteter eee
eee
kiameneaee
anada badd aes
aang en oad beste son 5 oe Cmeks paps aca nas aah anna
AKAN RO ak Cnn
e
areeneeeeee
eet
etme
eeteeerecee
ste
teesoeneeee
eer
emaeneeeeme
eee
nteeestetet
taaeaeteeea
earaeseeace
esate
renee
ee
nee
ess
ee
Ae
se
Ow
e ete ee ate ee ee eee eeu eee ee eee eee ee eee ee eee ee ee ee eee eee ee ee ee Sees e eee eee Mee eee ET SASS ED Se Ow
ate
eo ae ne eee
eee ee ere ele
ee eee eee ORDO eee OOOO
SOO OOO
Oa
bere OOOO SG OO O08
O10le OO OOO
DOP O00 810.010 0.0. 01060,010.0-0,010,0 N00. 0 AO Rr
O10n
OOOO
c
rs.
polished
ability
Leadership
during 14 years as trustee of
Mrs. Amy Robinson of Indianapolis is a firm believer that a
person can accomplish what he
wants with life. Her quiet determination is underlined with just
to
independence
firey
enough
make the conviction a reality.
a
nearly
after
year,
This
quarter of a century’s seniority
as an inspector in International
Harvester’s Indianapolis foundry,
the 53-year-old widowed grandmother graduated from college.
Receipt of a sociology degree
climaxed eight years of night
school. It fulfilled a life-long
dream.
Mrs. Robinson began college
ae
:
.
.
once before, when she was graduated from an Indianapolis high
school in 1933, but America’s
greatest depression brought her
pursuit to a grinding halt after
three weeks. During World War
II she relinquished a low paying
hospital job and
hired in at
Harvester. She told herself in
Pa,
,
Local 226 was utilized also in civil
rights (Citizens Forum, Inc.) and
other civic activities. (She is one
of two Negroes and one of two is
other
women—the
UAW
Evelyn Benbow
of Muncie—on
the Indiana Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women.)
“The major part of my life has
-
those
that
days
‘an
education,
for colored people, doesn’t mean
much.” But just the same, she
nurtured
the
incubating
for a formal education.
And her
informally.
education
|
desire
went
|
on,
rotetetetatatetetet eee eee eee eee
eee eee ee eT Eee
been spent to make me better informed culturally or economically,” she surmised, looking back.
to
back
point
turning
The
eollege came in the early 50’s as
she eagerly plunged her help into
her daughter’s high school homework.
Mrs. Robinson recalled that her
mother,
a former
teacher
in
Nashville, Tenn. nudged her: “If
you’re going to get into it that
much, you might as well help
So at the age of 45, the quietlyenRobinson
Mrs.
determined
rolled in night courses at the
liberal arts Indiana Central College, six blocks from her South
Indianapolis,
modest
concrete
block home.
ONE O Oe OOO
of
her
interest
9.9, eosegegieegietes 2,
2.9, Mo" 50% *.%.", ote Meme 2,2, ram
taut 2,SSOe °°, RIO
eo %.% 0%
0,99,SPC
2,
Po
ee
8 oo 0 9 9 0 0.0 9
0.0.6 0.0.0 9.0 9 0.0 0 0 0 8.© 0.9.0.9
0.0.0. 0.8 8.2.
OOOO?
OOO
OOOO
.°,
6.0.0 0.0.0.9,
0.0 08.0.0 0.8.8 00 0 9 0 9 6% 2.0.9.9.°,%,
6.6 -0.0-0
0018010 0.0.0-0-0
0101061010
ono eo" o'er
°,
OOOO
NEMO eNO Oe o"ererererererenee ee ere ee ° *ere’e"e' ° ro"o" oe" e'e o'er e"res"ere eee ‘ere"e"eeretatatetatatetatete °
etetetatetets
Roxeeorerenn mms
eann
RRR
from
the
UAW-Harvester
tuition refund program, the company told her, but it was the field
into which she had been drawn.
she_ stayed,
in sociology
And
not knowing where
sometimes
the next tuition payment would
ae
come from.
The question of what a grandmother, past her fifties and a
new world of thought,” added the
woman
in
0.9.9.9.
ahaa t ee 2.0.0.2. 2.0.9,
eM °,
°,°,
6.90.0 .0 2.8,
°°,
OS
OOOO
RRR RAR
RN SNR
help
veteran inspector of truck engine
parts might do with a degree in
her
sociology scarcely entered
mind.
“This was a challenge I accepted for my mother (who died
in 1962). She wanted me to finish
—if I never did anything with it.
material
unlike
“Education,
things, is something nobody can
take from you,” she said. College
level courses ‘‘opened a whole
yourself.”’
Because
union activity, Mrs. Robinson enrolled in economics, but required
courses in “sociology, anthropology, criminalogy all that stuff
(oops, I picked up that jargon
from the kids on campus)” soon
channeled her energies toward a
degree in sociology.
It was the “wrong field’ to get
@,
2
2,
6,
erstecatetcotatecocanateseentete
who
proclaimed,
650,202, 0,0,0,
es Mee
0,00, 9,0,9, 0.0.0, 0.000
reer srr
simply,
rsrere
me ereebeteirieie
TeraarnrarararsrarerareMrinarne
Mrs. AMY ROBINSON
—a grandmother’s dream—
SEO
ee ea
—
I
KK
KKK AIK
rarer
ap
ete te
te etaretdperetinerecees
_ September, 1968—UAW SOLIDARITY—Page 15
,
s
a
l
g
u
o
D
l
l
cDonne
5
3
f
o
s
e
p
o
h
e
h
t
all,
we
Page 16—UAW SOLIDARITY—September, 1968
|
3
|
|
co
a
- Item sets