No Squeeze on Rubber

In late April, 60,000 members of the United Rubber Workers walked off their jobs at plants of the industry's Big Four (Firestone, Uniroyal, Goodyear and Goodrich), starting what had been billed as the big labor showdown of 1976. By June 1, according to most assessments, the walkout should have begun to put a serious crimp in the nation's recovery from its worst post-World War II recession. Instead, as it enters its seventh week, the strike has been only a minor annoyance, and the nation's response seems to be one big yawn.

Instead of closing assembly lines around now, as had been expected, automakers have discovered that they have a large enough inventory of tires to keep running flat out at least through June. To be sure, they are shipping some cars with only four tires each (no spare for the unlucky driver who gets a flat). But some motorists have been able to get spares from auto dealers who carry stockpiles of tires, and the automakers promise that every buyer will get a fifth tire eventually.

Some shortages of tires for trucks and farm equipment are appearing. Nonetheless, the National Tire Dealers and Retreaders Association, representing 5,000 tire dealers round the country, reports that its members are still generally well stocked. The union has tried to promote a worldwide boycott of Firestone products. "What boycott?" asks a Firestone store employee in Michigan. And in fact in Akron, where 11,000 of the 60,000 strikers live, only 1,000 showed up for a recent boycott rally.

The Ford Administration, anxious to keep long strikes from disrupting the recovery, is keeping a nervous eye on the rubber situation. Yet mediators have not seen fit to call round-the-clock negotiations, let alone recommend that the Administration ask for a Taft-Hartley Act injunction that would stop the strike for 80 days. Such injunctions are permitted legally only if a strike damages the national "health and safety" and, says one federal official, "we would have a hell of a time making a case" for an injunction.

Indeed, the people hurt worst by the strike so far seem to be the strikers themselves. The union's strike fund has run out. At a U.R.W. meeting in Chicago two weeks ago, union directors decided not even to ask for a special assessment on nonstriking members to provide some benefits for workers who might hit the bricks later at other companies. That letdown illustrates a major reason why the strike has had no impact: dissension within the union. Some 40% to 45% of the nation's tire production continues, partly because General Tire & Rubber Co. is not on strike. When U.R.W. President Peter Bommarito asked the General Tire local in Akron to join the walkout, the local refused.

Long and Bitter. None of this means that the strike should not be taken seriously. The rubber workers, who now average $5.50 an hour, are seeking an extra $1.65 to bring them up to the present standard of auto workers. Besides that, they want an unlimited cost-of-living adjustment provision to keep wages from being eroded by inflation. And they seem determined to hold out until their strike hurts, as it eventually will. Their walkout highlights a severe problem for the whole nation: even in a basic industry, it takes a very long and bitter strike to get results, but unless inflation can be brought demonstrably under control, such strikes are exactly what can be expected.

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