Time Warp: The GM Strike, Then and Now

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14720112

by Eric Weiner

NPR.org, September 26, 2007 · What a difference 37 years makes.

The last time the United Auto Workers called a nationwide strike against General Motors was in 1970. That strike lasted 67 days, triggering layoffs at parts suppliers and steel companies and dominating headlines.

This week's strike lasted just two days — hardly making a dent in the economy and competing with other stories for the nation's attention.

http://www.npr.org/templates/common/image_enlargement.php?imageResId=14723178
Workers wave picket signs outside a Detroit GM plant after the United Auto Workers struck against the auto giant, Sept. 14, 1970. That strike against GM last 67 days; the most recent, just two days. Corbis

Why the difference? The answer lies in the dwindling fortunes of GM and the UAW.

The 1970 strike was a "titanic clash between two massive permanent entities," says Jefferson Cowie, a professor or labor history at Cornell University. "They were both the backbone of America at the time."


Lindsay Mangum, NPR

National strikes have become rare, largely because of the waning influence of labor unions. There were just 20 strikes and lockouts involving more than 1,000 people last year. That compares with 470 a little more than a half-century ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In 1970, General Motors was the biggest automaker and the largest employer in the world. The 1973 oil crisis was years away, as was the threat from low-cost Japanese automakers. GM, along with Ford and Chrysler, could barely keep up with demand.

FULL story at link.