REBELLION IN THE RÁNKS and Walter Reuther, deceased Presldent o! the UAW, talks about: «... the new breed of worker In the plant who Is less wllllng to accept discipline of the workplace. He Is unw!IUng to accept corporate (employer's) declslons ... , In the sprlng of 1970, at the Chrysler plant near Detrolt, young workers rebelled, refusing to work overtlme after flfteen stralght days on the Job. One of them told Fraser: «... Does the company have the rlght to deny me my social lite? After ali, I have no obllgatlons, no famlly. I can meet ali my needs worklng !lve days a week.• Absentelsm In the plants on weekdays rose from 2 % in the 1950's to 5 % in 1970. On Frldays and Saturdays the absentee rate soared to 15 % o! the work force. An artlcle wrltten by a reporter who lntervlewed rebelllous young workers, describes the sltuation: • ... the younger generatlon, whlch has already shaken the campuses, ls showlng slgns of restlessness In the plants o! Industrial Amerlca. They are better educated and want treatment as equals from the bosses on a plant !loor. They are not afrald of loslng thelr Jobs and often challenge the foremen's orders . . . many young workers are calllng for lmmedlate changes In worklng condltlons, by pass thelr own unlon leaders and start wlld cat strlkes (wlld cat strlkes are spontaneous work stoppages In vlolatlon of unlon rules, contracts and government laws) ... a steel worker recalled that young workers sparked severa! wlld cat strlkes over the way an employee was treated by a foreman. . . they want to be asked what to do. Not told to do lt ... • (New York Times, June l. 1970, quoted by Jeremy Brecher In hls book Strtke, p. 264) (2). Another dlspatch reports that: «Last month, young workers led a three day strlke In a brlck maklng plant after the foreman dlsclpllned a worker for carelessness In operatlng a 11ft truck ... , (tbid. p. 265). A masslve study entltled Work In America, lssued by the U.S. Oovemment Department of Health, Educatlon and Welfare (Dec. 12, 1972) flnds that: «job dlscontent Is hurtlng Amerlca. Economlc and social harm Is llnked to dlssatlsfactlon o! workers at ali levels . . . A changlng American work force Is becomlng pervaslvely dlssatlsfled wlth dull, unchallenglng and repetatlve Jobs ... the discontent o! trapped, dehumanlzed workers, is creatlng low productivlty, lncreasing absenteelsm from work, more workers qultting their Jobs, wlld cat strikes, (2) Sirike! by Jeremy Brecher..Straight. Arrow Books. 99
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