The Reuther Plan

In a time of growing public concern about inflation, United Automobile Workers' President Walter Reuther last week fired off an astute challenge to the presidents of General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. He proposed that 1) the Big Three should cut prices on 1958 models by a specific $100 below prices for 1957 models--or more; 2) the U.A.W. would then give nonspecific "full consideration" to lower company earnings in framing its 1958 demands (reportedly to include the four-day week and a substantial wage increase); and 3) if U.A.W. demands appeared to force the companies to raise prices again, U.A.W. was willing to be "guided" by the findings of a nonpartisan "impartial review panel."

Reuther was obviously asking a lot and offering almost nothing. He was just as obviously taking a line designed to soothe the growing public conviction that immoderate wage demands by big labor add up to a big factor in inflation (TIME, Aug. 5). But the fact remained that he had astutely framed his argument in the terms of inflation and thereby caught a public ear that would likewise be tuned to the answers of the auto companies.

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