"MMME4 Seventy-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS _- ,. _ :: Where Opinions Are Free, 420 MAYNARD Sr., ANN ARBOR, MICI-. Truth Will Prevail NEWS PHONE: 764-0552 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the'editors. This must be noted in all reprints. SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 1968 NIGHT EDITOR: CAROLYN MIEGEL The All-American Jail-I GM By ROGER RAPOPORT Editor DETROIT - Every three years the United Auto Workers Un- ion and the Big-Three automakers settle into a bargaining ritual that is so predictable most De- troiters know it by heart. The latest edition ended just last week when the rank and file of General Motors formally rati- fied a new contract. On the surface the past year's set of negotiations followed the traditional pattern. On July 11 UAW chief Walter Reuther walk- ed briskly into a fifth floor con- ference room in the General Mo- tors building and lectured the GM executives at length on union de- mands. On subsequent days he gave repeat performances at Ford and Chrysler. After both sides met for pre- liminary discussions and ex- changed vague threats the com- panies made what they considered a generous offer. But as always the union= rejected the first pro- posal as puny. THIS YEAR the companies' economic offer was made Aug. 30. Following tradition the UAW se- lected a "strike target" the fol- lowing day. That target was Ford Motor Co. and a strike deadline of Sept. 6 was set. andI/ By compressing the negotiation time and concentrating on one target the union hopes to quickly hammer out a favorable "pattern" contract which it can subsequently sell to Chrysler and General Motors. When an impasse was reached in negotiations this year the UAW struck Ford from Sept. 6 until Nov. 6 when the company granted a lucrative pact that included a 6 per cent annual increase in wages and fringe benefits. Having established a pattern the UAW went to Chrysler and then General Motors and worked out similar pacts. And so the ne- gotiations ended in traditional fashion-the same old stock pho- tograph of Walter Reuther shak- ing hands across the bargaining table with chief GM negotiator Louis Seaton flashed onto TV screens and newspaper front pages. BUT THE negotiations also produced one big' surprise which could change the nature of future auto talks. It is a seven page proposal out- lining a "mutual aid' pact be- tween the Big-Three auto com- panies in the event of a strike. Although the plan was never used See GM, Page 8 [ Modest Propoa In October, 1965 I was arrested along with 38 others for participating in a sit-in at the Ann Arbor draft board. Seven days later we were convicted by Municipal Court for violating a local trespassing ordinance and were given 10-day sentences. In November, 1965 our conviction was upheld by Wash- tenaw County Circuit Court, this time with a fifteen day sentence. On December 18, eleven of us began to serve our sentences in the Wash- tenaw County Jail. The following is the first of a two part series of excerpts from some letters I wrote during and shortly after my fifteen day stay. -BILL AYERS DON'T MIND terribly much that I can't get books, because I don't think I'll be able to do much reading any- way. I thought that being locked into n quiet, unstimulating place would help me to catch up on some work; actually reading is very difficult and I've found that this place is most con- ducive to sitting on the steel bench and dumbly contemplating the floor (which is what most people do). I was a bit hesitant at first to talk with the other prisoners about why I was in, because I expected that there would be hostility towards an anti-war or anti-draft position. But I decided that it would be stupid to keep saying that I was in for trespassing (which is legally correct), because that kind of becomes an admission that my posi- tion is weak or that others don't understand and feel oppressed by the same things I do. When I started talking about it I was amazed at how many people were not only open to talk about the war and the draft, but seemed actually pleased to be able to tell what their experiences had been and what they were going to do. One young guy was particularly articulate in telling about how they'd been trying to draft him and how he'd been dodging it. He's planning to refuse induction because he doesn't like "what's going on over there." The only open hostility has been from the police. One of the turnkeys (jailers) has come down to our cell a number of times and, with a smile, has sarcastically asked the other people in the cell, "Well, you learning any- thing form these college boys?" A hill- billy kid from Ypsilanti shut him up yesterday when he replied, "Yeah. I'm learning how to dodge the draft." Another turnkey has been even more open in his feelings about us. When candy was passed out on Christmas, he asked us each what we were in for. Those of us who said we were among the sit-in group were told we wouldn't get any. He eventually gave us some, adding with a sneer, "When you get back to college, you write about how nice we are here, giving you candy on Christmas and all" Sheriff Harvey told a group of min- isters that he was trying to protect us from the other prisoners who wouldn't like what we'd done. The only harass- ment we got from other prisoners was when one or two trustees were en- couraged by the turnkeys to do some- thing, like yell over the P.A. TIME. EVERYTHING IS slowed down. When I get out, this will look like a bad dream, the bat of an eye. Then I'll be able to think of all the people who spent (or are spending) most of their lives in prisons, or in wars, or "strategic hamlets," etc. But now it's painful. People in here become ob- sessed with time and have long talks about what time it might be. The turnkeys, of course, will never tell us what time it really is. I'M ACUTELY AWARE of the fact that I can't move. I can't walk away from situations or people I don't like; I can't move from one room to another for a change of scenery or smell or feeling. And this is important-how many times in a day did I used to get up and walk to another room or another place without being aware of it, just because I felt like it? I feel trapped; I really just want to take a walk in MISS YOU all like crazy. It's hard to get letters-happy things make me sad; and sad things make me feel impotent. I wonder where everyone is, what they're doing, and when I'll be out. I want very much to tell you all I love you. I'M STARTING TO sound like jail is really horrible and scary-which it isn't. A lot of my fears have been per- mently crushed by coming in. I guess I was afraid just because I didn't know what was in here. Jail is sometimes silly and absurd, usually very sad, often maddening-but it's not par- JAIL IS ABOUT the unhealthiest place possible. I'm sure it passes all the state regulations, etc., but that doesn't tell the real story. The food is tasteless; people here call it "drek" or "gray" (jail rumor has it that Mrs. Harvey is the cook-some people call jail "Iar- vey's Hotel"). We usually get undercooked oatmeal and boiled, black coffee for breakfast; baloney, bread, and tea for lunch; hot- dogs, potatoes, and tea for supper. When we get something like vegetables, they're soggy and over-cooked (un-. doubtedly without vitamins). The hot- dogs are falling apart (they look to be about 80 per cent corn-meal), and the potatoes are cold. I've never talked to anyone who could eat regularly in here, and most everyone loses weight. (I lost 20 pounds.) There's absolutely no fresh fruit or vegetables. Sheriff Harvey told a group of local ministers that no fruit could be brought in because someone might inject dope or alcohol into it. This makes some kind of weird sense. But there's a commissary here from which prisoners can order food. The trouble is that they can only order candy bars and. peanuts; no apples or tomatoes or oranges or bananas. Also there's no place for exercise. I began feeling weak so I started doing push-ups a few days ago. Every day they get harder. THERE'S AN OLD, alcoholic guy in our cell. It's obvious that he's'a sick person; among other things, he seems to have something wrong with his kid- neys. But there's no particular concern for things like this, and there are no doctors around, so he'll check out sometime and he'll always be sick, and he'll die in an alley somewhere. The other prisoners are concerned about this. They say that last summer a guy from the Detroit rebellion died upstairs of pneumonia because no one investigated when the other people up there said he was sick. This lends itself to all kinds of fears because they realize that if something happened, their lives would depend on the turn- keys, who have proven themselves un- trustworthy. EVERYONE IN HERE is poor. There are young guys who've been in a number of times on petty offenses; older guys clearly on their way to Jack- son; and old alcoholic-types who come in regularly when it's cold or someone feels like busting them. How can we pretend that prisons make any sense at all when the overwhelming majority of people are poor and are constantly returning? FVERY YOUNG GUY I've met has been at Boys' Training School or Boys' Republic or Ionia. And it becomes clear that just as Harvard has Exeter and Andover, so Washtenaw County has these. It's not hard to know where they'll go from here. An 18-year-old kid, with. the normal, healthy 18-year-old needs and desires, put into an unhealthy cage for sixty days because he drank a beer, is going to bust loose the day he gets out, and drink maybe a case of beer with his girl, and have a party, get into a fight and be back in before he knows it. A lot of the guys here are called "County Lifers,"--they're in for 30 days, out for a week, in for 60 days. out for two, in for 10, out for * UAW's Reuther and GM's Seaton take the pause that ref reshes .,h:} } j}. h' {{':f>}Y{pr:"'r .{.?'1.4 r%?S"'rry.hV. h...::" nw:v:.v ":.v rn-rrv rrv: rr::..er.::::ar:..y ...... .... ......... . ... .....,........... " .. .0 .?.T.''i .............. . .:..::::..: a. Y.n {....... f.M1... .. , h..h4K .^Yr,.uh .. 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'r hht}.'rr Y" "\" ""Y hSYM VY. { ""1"" """ "N V"."Y::: ;...t::. : '. " ." i .5 ":{QM1t"M1h "Vr}.Y.titM 'h.h.h......t ...... .:" M1.:: J:;":r "} ..:".nr.s...".an....}.n.hr....:S ..M1.r....an r.,S)kahatik. .i.} . :':...t PROPOSAL FOR MUTUAL AID IN EVENT OF STRIKE i t I. OBJECTIVE A plan to provide financial assistance to a company struck over the terms of the national agreement. II. PLAN Sharing of net losses of the struck company by the companies not struck. A. Method of payment Struck company would be reimbursed for 40% of the production lost during the strike (assumed sales loss) if it is possible for the other com- panies to produce this volume in four Saturdays of overtime. The rate of reimbursement would be $500 per job not to exceed the struck company's lost sales. As shown in Exhibit A, if GM were on strike for one month, Ford and Chrysler could not produce sufficient units in four Saturdays to equal GM's estimated sales loss. On the other hand, if either Ford or Chrysler were on strike, sufficient capacity would be available at the other companies to produce on four Saturdays a volume greater than the struck Exhibit A ESTIMATED SALES LOSS OF COMPANY ON STRIKE VS. AVAILABLE CAPACITY OF COMPANIES NOT ON STRIKE company's estimated sales loss. Since GM would not be reimbursed com- pletely for their estimated sales loss under the above qualification, a sup- plemental payment would be made on the basis of the difference between the limits reimbursed at the $500 per unit as described above and the total estimated sales loss. These payments would be made at $200 per unit. The calculated payments under the foregoing provisions are set forth in Exhibit B. III. ADVANTAGES OF PLAN The advantages of this plan are that each company's reimbursements from the other companies are approvimately the same as the potential payments to the other companies if they were on strike. For example, if GM were on strike, GM's reimbursements from Ford would be approximately the same as GM's payments to Ford, if Ford were on strike. These data are summarized in Exhibit C. Payments to Struck Company 1. No payment to be made for first week of any strike period. 2. Beginning with the second week, and continuing weekly thereafter, for the duration of the strike, the company on strike would receive from the other companies: (to be shared by the companies not on strike in proportion to their respective normal day's production rate) a. $500 per unit for a normal day's production by each of the com- panies not on strike, (on a combined basis, not to exceed 40% of the struck company's weekly production), plus b. $200 per unit for any additional units up to 40% of a normal week's production by the struck company. k R " .a z t i 's +w } 1sf r a;:a 1" "i} 1{ Y.1 $ 1 "yZ 4 };{+ }: Daily Rate One Month's Volume (22 Days) 473.000 264,000 132,000 Additional Volume on Four Saturdays 86,000 48,000 24,000 Sales Loss if Struck (40% of Month's Production) Exhibit B GM ................ Ford ..................... Chrysler ................. 21,500 12.000 6,000 189,200 105,600 52,800 CALCULATED PAY MENTS DURING ONE MONTH STRIKE GM on Strike Additional Volume on Four Saturdays ($000's Ommitted) F ord ........................... ............................. 48,000 Chrysler ........ ... ........................... ... ...... 24,000 T otal ..................... ............................. 72,000 GM's Estimated Sales Loss ............ . .. ..................... ........... . . . .1 89,200 Four Saturday's Volume at Ford and Chrysler over (under) GM's sales loss.............................(117,200) Ford on Strike Additional Volume on Four Saturdays GM ............... .... . ..............,..... ............ 86,000 Chrysler............................................. 24,000 Total ......................................110,000 Ford's Estimated Sales Loss 105,600 Four Saturdays' Volume at GM & Chrysler over (under) Ford's sales loss . . . . . . ....... 4.400 Chrysler on Strike Additional Volume on Four Saturdays G M ........................... .... ........................ 86,000 Ford .... .. ................................................ 48,000 Total.......................134,000 Chrysler Estimated Sales Loss....... . ............................452,800 GM & Ford over (under Chrysler's sales loss..................81,200 Exhibit C COMPARISON OF REIMBURSEMENT VS. PAYMENTS GM Ford 24,000 GM on Strike Four Saturdays' pro- duction at $500/unit .. GM's sales loss in ex- cess of Ford & Chrysler S a t u r d a y production (117,200 units at $200 (allocated to Ford and Chrysler based on daily rates) ................ Total Paid to GM.. Ford on Strike Estimated sales loss (105,600) at $500/unit (allocated to GM and Chrysler based on daily rates) ................ Ford on Strike Estimated sales 1 o s s (105,600) at $500/unit (allocated to GM and Chrysler based on daily rates) ................ Chrysler on Strike Estimated sales 1 o s s (52,800) at $500/unit (allocated to GM and Ford based on daily rates) ................ Chrysler 12,000 7,840 19,840 15,600 39,600 41,200 11,600 Total 36,000 23,440 59,440 <,1 52,800 52,800 26,400 otal Weekly Reimburse- ment ($000's) 9,333 4,667 14,000 9,400 2,600 12,000 41,200 11,600 16,900 9,500 Exhibit D (000's Omitted) GM on Strike Reimburse- ments from Other Companies on Strike GM Payments to rd Chrysler To CALCULATION OF WEEKLY PAYMENTS TO COMPANY ON STRIKE * Fo otaI S S S Daily Production Weekly Reimburse- ment @$500/Unit Additional Units Weekly Reimburse- ment @$200/Unit ($000's) T R Effect on GM Ford............ Chrysler ............. Total............. 39,600 19,840 59,440 41,200 41,200 16,900 16,900 41.200 16.900 58,100 ($000's) Ford on Strike Reimburse- ments from Other Companies on Strike Payments to M Chrysler To G otal GM on Strike Ford . Chrysler. Total.. Ford on Strike GM .. Chrysler. $ $ 12.000 6,000 18,000 18,800 5,200 6,000 3,000 9,000 16,667 8,3;33 25,000 3,333 1,667 5,000 Effect on Ford GM ................. Chrysler ............ Total......... 41,200 11,600 52,800 39,600 39,600 39,600 9,500 49,100 9,400 2,600 12,000 9,500 9,500 Total. . 24,000* I I 1200