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Vol. LXXXI, No. 14-S Ann Arbor, Michigan-Saturday, May 22, 1971 Ten Cents Twelve Pages
Janitors try to
.... air complaints
before Regents
w' By ROSE SUE BERSTEIN
Thirty-five University janitors, protesting the loss of
t y their paid lunch period, interrupted the Regents monthly
meeting at various points yesterday. President Robben
Fleming denied them permission to address the meeting.
An American Federation of State, County and Munici-
a pal Employes (AFSCME) chief steward, Joel Block, said
that the workers came to the meeting to make their griev-
ance known to the Regents since, he claimed, the griev-
ances they had filed through the regular procedure-had
been consistently ignored. T n
- ~ ~~ ~ ~ - -~u~isc ci
CHARLES MOTT, one of the largest shareholders of General Motors stock, talks with another share-
holder yesterday before the start of GM's annual stockholder's meeting in Detroit.
Reform campaign fails
to change GM'S policies
By JONATHAN MILLER
special to The Daily
DETROIT - A challenge to
the management of General Mo-
tors by Campaign GM and the
Episcopal Church failed as ex-
pected yesterday to capture suf-
ficient votes to force a change in
GM's policies.
Despite its defeat along with
the other proposals, there was
unexpected support !or the Epis-
copal proposal for GM to cease
business operations in South
* Africa.
Leon Sullivan, the first black
ever appointed to GM's Board of
Directors, lashed out at his co-
poration's policy and pledged sup-
port for Stockholder Proposal
number eight "The corporation
shall not conduct manufacturing
operations in the Republic of
South Africa and shall wind up
its present manufacturing oper-
ations there as soon as possible."
The remainder of the directors
recommended a vote against the
proposal. GM Chairman James
Roche explained, "General Mo-
tors . . . must conduct its busi-
ness in conformity with the laws
and regulations of each country.
"We are a' free 'orporetion
owned by free whites, uh, and
blacks," declared Roche to a
chorus of boos from the Ce m-
paign GM supporters in the
crowd and loud guffaws from
the press gallery. "The Board of
Directors believes that with-
drawal from South Africa might
well aggravate those situations
with which the proposents of this
proposal express concern."
Sullivan, in an emotional and
lengthy speech, termed South
Africa "the most ruthless" coun-
try in the world.
He took issue with Roche's con-
tention that the company opera-
tions in the African nation are a
liberalizing force. He said Ameri-
can companies "by their very
presence are helping to sustain
the existence" of apartheid.
"Why does the world want to
go slow when the rights of the
black man are at stake. Ameri
can industry-including General
Motors - cannot morally con-
tinue to do business in South
Africa," Sullivan said.
Campaign GM, a reform group other proposals in an attempt to
seeking to give stockholders and , break the control over nomina-
the public a greater voice in the tions of managers now exercised
management of the world's la.g- by the board of directors.
est industrial corpora'-ion, pre- Nominations printed on stock-
Previously, the janitors had
worked an eight-hour shift,
which included a 20 minute
paid lunch period. Now, they
work a shift which extends over
eight and a half hours, within
which a half hour is to be set
aside as an unpaid lunch break.
Thus, the janitors are apparent-
ly working 20 minutes more for
the same pay,
University Manager of Em-
ploye Relations J a m e s Thiry
said last night "there's nothing
in the collective bargaining
agreement that prohibits chang-
iing work shift hours," Me de-
clined to comment on the rea-
sons for this specific change, but
said it was "unusual" for Uni-
versity employes to have paid
lunch periods.
At an early point in the meet-
ing, Regent Robert Brown (R-
Kalamazoo) inquired about a
letter he and all the other Re-
gents had recgived expressing
the janitors' grievance.
Immediately thereafter, Block
asked Fleming for permission to
address the meeting and explain
the janitors' complaint.
Fleming denied the request,
commenting that the workers
"know how to get in touch with
us.''
When Block and several of the
other janitors present again re -
quested permission to speak with
the Regents, Fleming told them
that they could talk with the
Regents after the meeting had
adjourned.
In a leaflet distributed to the
Regents and the press, the jan-
itors expressed their complaint-
"On April 27, all Plant Depart-
ment janitors were told they
See REGENTS, Page 10
TI' IRegents
fail to act
on UC code
At yesterday's Regents meet-
ing, the Regents had been
slated to discuss the University
Council's (UC) proposed con-
duct code for the University
community, but these rules were
not mentioned at the public
open session.
The Regents discussed the
rules with UC members at their
closed session Thursday, but
took no action on them.
UC, a .tri-partite committee
established by a Regents bylaw
to design a uniform conduct
code for the University com-
munity, presented t h e i r pro-
posals last February.
To be enacted, however, the
UC rules needythe approval of
Senate Assembly - the faculty
representative body, SGC and
the Regents. Thus far, Senate
Assembly has suggested modifi-
cations that would render the
code more stringent whereas
SGC has suggested modifica-
tions to make it more lenient.
Until the UC code can be en-
acted, the Regents Interim Dis-
cipline Rules, passed in April,
1970, remain in effect.
Other regental action included:
-The approval of a $300,000
renovation program for the stu-
dent Health Service Building,
which does not meet code stan-
dards for fire protection and pro-
visions for the handicapped.
sented three proposals whichla
were also soundly defeated.
A disclosure proposal - to
make GM publish reports of its
progress in minority hiring and
training, air pollution research
and development and safety de-
vice research and development-
failed to garner substantial sup-
port after GM's Board of Direc-
tors recommended rejection of
the plan.
Roche said the proposal was
redundant because GM "bas an
enviable record of open disclos-
ure to its stockholders and the
public generally."
Campaign GM presented two
holders proxy forms are cur-
rently made by the board. Only
enough candidates to fill the va-
cancies are listed on thes proxy
form. Campaign GM attempted tc.
force the corporation to carry
the names of up to 30 indepen-
dent candidates on the proxy
forms. The proposal failed cn
management's recommendation.
"This represents an attempt to
secure the benefit of the corpora-
tions proxy solicitation facilities
by groups of stockholders who
have not demonstrated that they
have broad stockholder support,"
See REFORM, Page 10
-uay-uary Viani
PRESIDENT ROBBEN FLEMING walks out immediately after the end of yesterday's Regents meeting. Most of the Regents remain-
ed to discuss with University janitors the loss of their paid lunch pariod.