FIVE THINGS: About Reuther's legacy

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http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070902/NEWS05/709020579/1007/NEWS

September 2, 2007

BY BILL McGRAW

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Saturday was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Walter Reuther, who became one of the nation's most important labor leaders.

GAINS

Reuther was president of the United Auto Workers for 24 years. Under his leadership, UAW members -- and, eventually, other unionized workers -- received unprecedented wage and benefit increases.

The average pay of an autoworker nearly doubled between the late 1940s and 1960, and Reuther bargained for health care coverage, cost-of-living raises, pensions, vacations and even supplemental unemployment benefits, which sustained laid-off workers. The extent of such benefits are challenged today as the American auto industry fights to stay competitive.

A BETTER LIFE

Reuther's vision extended far beyond the bargaining table. He believed the union should be a progressive force worldwide. "The labor movement is about changing society," he said. "What good is a dollar an hour more in wages if your neighborhood is burning down?"

A friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Reuther had the UAW play a major role in financing King's cause. Long before corporate America demonstrated a commitment to black advancement, Reuther marched with King and his followers across the South, and he was one of the few non-African Americans to address the crowd at the famous March on Washington in 1963.

Reuther also was a confidant of President Lyndon B. Johnson. He encouraged Johnson to propose civil rights legislation and launch the War on Poverty.

TARGET

Reuther paid a price for his positions. In 1938, associates foiled a kidnapping attempt. In 1948, a gunman, standing outside his west-side Detroit home, shot him as Reuther stood in his kitchen. His recovery took a year, and he contracted hepatitis and malaria from blood transfusions. snip

Reuther served as UAW president until he died in a plane crash in 1970. His memory and his work live on around Detroit, particularly in the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University, the internationally known archives of labor and urban affairs.



From the OP: My wife and I landed at the same small airport near Black Lake, Michigan in 1974 while visiting there that the plane that Walter Reuther and his wife May were killed at in 1970. Some still think that foul play was involved with their deaths.

http://www.uaw.org/about/where/onaway.html

[Fading Captain]

1. KICK!!!!!

A great man.
A great family.
A great movement.

I wish someone in Hollywood would do a movie on the Brothers Reuther.

I hope the Democratic Party stops turning its back on labor.

[TahitiNut]

2. Friends of my family.

As a kid and teenager, I met Walter and May several times at family functions - picnics, dinners, and other gatherings. I stopped by their compound near Goodison north of Rochester, MI, a couple of times. I was always glad to see them - friendly, kind, intelligent people. He was an extraordinary man.

[Jack Bone]

3. Kicked & Recommended!!

I was born & raised in a UAW family, my father worked for GM. I am now a member, working @ Chrysler. My family & I just returned from my locals Labor Day Rally where I shook my US Representatives hand and gave him an earful for voting for the recent FISA amendment.

My mother always thought that foul play was involved in the plane crash. Lord knows, we need another Walter Reuther right about now!!

[salin]

4. another K&R