Pub Date : 2018-09-01DOI: 10.5622/ILLINOIS/9780252042010.003.0003
D. Clark
The 1950 GM-UAW contract, called "The Treaty of Detroit" by Fortune magazine, dominates accounts of postwar U.S. labor history because it seemed to ensure steady employment, increasing wages, and improved benefits, like pensions, for autoworkers. But the Treaty of Detroit and comparable contracts with Chrysler and Ford were efforts to achieve some semblance of stability and predictability in a volatile industry, not the confirmation and continued promise of the postwar boom. The contracts were signed after a year of national recession, marked by intensifying competition in the auto industry, with production speedups and strikes, new efforts at automation (the replacement of jobs with machinery), national coal and steel strikes, and chronic layoffs for autoworkers. The Korean War led to further instability.
1950年通用汽车与uaw签订的合同被《财富》杂志称为“底特律条约”，在战后美国劳工史上占据主导地位，因为它似乎确保了稳定的就业，提高了工资，并改善了汽车工人的福利，比如养老金。但《底特律条约》(Treaty of Detroit)以及与克莱斯勒(Chrysler)和福特(Ford)签订的类似合同，都是为了在一个动荡的行业中实现某种表面上的稳定和可预测性，而不是对战后繁荣的确认和持续承诺。在签署这些合同之前，美国经历了一年的经济衰退，汽车行业的竞争加剧，生产加速，罢工，自动化(用机器取代工作)的新努力，全国煤炭和钢铁罢工，以及汽车工人的长期裁员。朝鲜战争导致了进一步的不稳定。
{"title":"The Era of “The Treaty of Detroit,” 1949–1950","authors":"D. Clark","doi":"10.5622/ILLINOIS/9780252042010.003.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5622/ILLINOIS/9780252042010.003.0003","url":null,"abstract":"The 1950 GM-UAW contract, called \"The Treaty of Detroit\" by Fortune magazine, dominates accounts of postwar U.S. labor history because it seemed to ensure steady employment, increasing wages, and improved benefits, like pensions, for autoworkers. But the Treaty of Detroit and comparable contracts with Chrysler and Ford were efforts to achieve some semblance of stability and predictability in a volatile industry, not the confirmation and continued promise of the postwar boom. The contracts were signed after a year of national recession, marked by intensifying competition in the auto industry, with production speedups and strikes, new efforts at automation (the replacement of jobs with machinery), national coal and steel strikes, and chronic layoffs for autoworkers. The Korean War led to further instability.","PeriodicalId":312458,"journal":{"name":"Disruption in Detroit","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114090460","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-09-01DOI: 10.5622/ILLINOIS/9780252042010.003.0008
D. Clark
The 1955 production boom resulted in nearly a million unsold vehicles on dealers’ lots. As a result, automakers scaled back production, resulting in widespread, chronic layoffs for autoworkers. Supplemental Unemployment Benefits were of little help because the programs were not fully funded and most unemployed autoworkers did not meet eligibility requirements. Instead, they struggled to cobble together secondary support systems. Many autoworkers had gone into debt during flush times in 1955 and were now saddled with mortgages, rents, or installment payments without regular income. Detroit floundered while the national economy thrived. More accurately, Detroit's working-class residents suffered while wealthier Detroiters shared in the nation's prosperity. Federal officials and automakers blamed autoworkers, with their high wages and generous fringe benefits, for their predicament.
{"title":"“A Severe and Prolonged Hangover,” 1956–1957","authors":"D. Clark","doi":"10.5622/ILLINOIS/9780252042010.003.0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5622/ILLINOIS/9780252042010.003.0008","url":null,"abstract":"The 1955 production boom resulted in nearly a million unsold vehicles on dealers’ lots. As a result, automakers scaled back production, resulting in widespread, chronic layoffs for autoworkers. Supplemental Unemployment Benefits were of little help because the programs were not fully funded and most unemployed autoworkers did not meet eligibility requirements. Instead, they struggled to cobble together secondary support systems. Many autoworkers had gone into debt during flush times in 1955 and were now saddled with mortgages, rents, or installment payments without regular income. Detroit floundered while the national economy thrived. More accurately, Detroit's working-class residents suffered while wealthier Detroiters shared in the nation's prosperity. Federal officials and automakers blamed autoworkers, with their high wages and generous fringe benefits, for their predicament.","PeriodicalId":312458,"journal":{"name":"Disruption in Detroit","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129654005","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-09-01DOI: 10.5622/illinois/9780252042010.003.0006
D. Clark
During the 1954 recession, tens of thousands of Detroit autoworkers experienced prolonged layoffs and relied on unemployment pay and secondary jobs. Industry officials and civic leaders denied that there was a recession, blamed any problems on negative thinking, and tried to convince the public that volatility in the auto industry was normal and of no great concern. Many Detroiters blamed working women and southern white migrants for high unemployment. Automation contributed to joblessness, while some UAW skilled workers benefited from building the new machinery. The demise of independent automakers and local auto suppliers resulted in thousands of additional lost jobs. While many autoworkers returned to work late in the year, most remained concerned about how long the upswing would last.
{"title":"A “Painfully Inconvenient” Recession, 1954","authors":"D. Clark","doi":"10.5622/illinois/9780252042010.003.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5622/illinois/9780252042010.003.0006","url":null,"abstract":"During the 1954 recession, tens of thousands of Detroit autoworkers experienced prolonged layoffs and relied on unemployment pay and secondary jobs. Industry officials and civic leaders denied that there was a recession, blamed any problems on negative thinking, and tried to convince the public that volatility in the auto industry was normal and of no great concern. Many Detroiters blamed working women and southern white migrants for high unemployment. Automation contributed to joblessness, while some UAW skilled workers benefited from building the new machinery. The demise of independent automakers and local auto suppliers resulted in thousands of additional lost jobs. While many autoworkers returned to work late in the year, most remained concerned about how long the upswing would last.","PeriodicalId":312458,"journal":{"name":"Disruption in Detroit","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121611294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-09-01DOI: 10.5622/ILLINOIS/9780252042010.003.0007
D. Clark
The year 1955 is the template for claims that the decade was a golden age for autoworkers. It began with auto plants operating at or near capacity, with multiple shifts. Business leaders predicted that the good times would last indefinitely. Nevertheless, unemployment remained high, and UAW leaders feared that excessive production early in the year would mean layoffs by fall. While production hummed at record rates, automakers and the UAW engaged in contract negotiations, with union leaders demanding a Guaranteed Annual Wage. Instead, the two sides settled on Supplemental Unemployment Benefits. Compared with any other year in the decade, 1955 brought high production, low unemployment, substantial profits for automakers, and steady pay for autoworkers, who were called the new labor aristocracy.
{"title":"“The Fifties” in One Year, 1955","authors":"D. Clark","doi":"10.5622/ILLINOIS/9780252042010.003.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5622/ILLINOIS/9780252042010.003.0007","url":null,"abstract":"The year 1955 is the template for claims that the decade was a golden age for autoworkers. It began with auto plants operating at or near capacity, with multiple shifts. Business leaders predicted that the good times would last indefinitely. Nevertheless, unemployment remained high, and UAW leaders feared that excessive production early in the year would mean layoffs by fall. While production hummed at record rates, automakers and the UAW engaged in contract negotiations, with union leaders demanding a Guaranteed Annual Wage. Instead, the two sides settled on Supplemental Unemployment Benefits. Compared with any other year in the decade, 1955 brought high production, low unemployment, substantial profits for automakers, and steady pay for autoworkers, who were called the new labor aristocracy.","PeriodicalId":312458,"journal":{"name":"Disruption in Detroit","volume":"67 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125182403","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-09-01DOI: 10.5622/ILLINOIS/9780252042010.003.0005
D. Clark
The upsurge in auto production near the end of the Korean War continued well into the New Year, which surpassed mid-1950 as the best approximation of a postwar boom. The end of government wartime controls on industrial materials created free market conditions that automakers had long coveted, and Detroit auto plants experienced an acute labor shortage in early 1953. Tens of thousands of migrants from outside Michigan headed to Detroit for auto jobs. Even during the boom, however, black men, all women, and middle-aged applicants experienced employment discrimination. By the end of 1953, autoworkers again found themselves in precarious circumstances as the auto market slackened and layoffs increased.
{"title":"A Post–Korean War Boom, 1953","authors":"D. Clark","doi":"10.5622/ILLINOIS/9780252042010.003.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5622/ILLINOIS/9780252042010.003.0005","url":null,"abstract":"The upsurge in auto production near the end of the Korean War continued well into the New Year, which surpassed mid-1950 as the best approximation of a postwar boom. The end of government wartime controls on industrial materials created free market conditions that automakers had long coveted, and Detroit auto plants experienced an acute labor shortage in early 1953. Tens of thousands of migrants from outside Michigan headed to Detroit for auto jobs. Even during the boom, however, black men, all women, and middle-aged applicants experienced employment discrimination. By the end of 1953, autoworkers again found themselves in precarious circumstances as the auto market slackened and layoffs increased.","PeriodicalId":312458,"journal":{"name":"Disruption in Detroit","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129624668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：