Years of struggle: Workers defy thelr leaders IN 1950, the UAW slgned a !!ve year contract wlth General Motors whlch outlawed strlkes, lgnored the demand o! the workers to stop speed-ups and lnsure qulck settlement of complalnts. To force the Corporatlon to grant these demands the workers were !orced to take actlon outslde o! the unlon. 70. % o! the workers repudlated the agreement and staged spontaneous wlld cat strlkes. The movement ot 1953-1954whlch spread to ali auto companles and ali sectlons of the country !lnally torced the unlon, 1n the next contract, to restore the rlght to strlke and to shorten the duratlon of the contract. The workers revolted agalnst the betrayal o! thelr offlclals by throwlng them out o! natlonal and local ornees in the Steelworkers Unlon, Rubber Workers Union, Oil and Chemlcal Workers Unlon, Textlle Workers, Electrlcal Workers Unlon, etc., and elect new leaders. Although the new leaders turned out to be Just as bad as the old ones, lt manlfested the extent of rankand-tl!e dlscontent. Even a larger percentage of workers wlldcatted after the 1958 natlonal UAW contract was slgned. The 116 day steel strlke In 1959 was fought to deny the right o! the companles to change work rules and lnstltute automatlon wlthout consulting the union. Also In 1961, cwlldcatters• completely shut ,down a Iarge part of Ford Motors productlon tor the same reasons: the rlght of the workers on the Job to regulate the rate o! production, to curb the abuses of the foremen, supervlsors and other tyrants and for speedy settlement o! grlevances. Stanley Welr, a very perceptive wrlter on Labor questlons, reports that: •· .. Just prior to the negotlatlon o! the 1964 contract, a development took place In the Auto Workers' Unlon that Is unlque In the hlstory of American labor. Severa! large Detrolt locals lnltlated a bumperstlcker campalgn. In ali cltles across the country where auto plants are Iocated the bumpers o! auto workers' cars displayed the slogan: humanize working conditions. Lacklng the support o! thelr o!!lclal leaders, these workers were attempt!ng to lnform the publlc o! the nature ot the struggle they were about to conduct, and that lts prlmary goal would be to lmprove the cond!tions ot factory lite rather than wages ... > (Workers' control, p. 47-48) (3). 101
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