Walter P. Reuther (click here)
"No Greater Calling"
The Life of Walter ReutherBy Thomas Featherstone
Walter Reuther is often remembered as the most accomplished leader in the history of the American labor movement. A man of character, resolve and boundless energy, he sought to level the playing field for American workers. Through his efforts, millions of working families continue to enjoy a more secure future....
The truth is the UAW has been the victim of violence.
Excerpts from Walter Reuther's Address to the 1970 UAW Convention (click here)
...We in the UAW have been in the forefront of every basic struggle in the country, and we have learned some very simple fundamental truths. That you cannot solve a human problem by pitting one human being against another human being. We have learned that the only way you can solve human problems is to get people to join hands and to find answers to those problems together. And it's for this reason that we reject the voices of extremism in America, whether they be white or black; for there are no separate answers. There are no white answers to the problems, there are no black answers; there are only common answers that we must find together in the solidarity of our common humanity. We also reject the irrational forces of violence. We in the UAW know something about violence. We have tasted its bitter fruits from our early beginning. Some of us have been shot at, we have been beaten up, we have had our offices blown up, we have had our homes threatened. And we know that violence solves no problems. It just intensifies old problems and creates new ones. Many of our friends, who stood here before platforms of past UAW conventions, are gone. They were struck down by the irrational and ugly forces of violence. We have lost too many friends, and America has lost too many noble sons. John Kennedy is gone. Martin Luther King is gone. Morris Adler, who was the Chairman of our Public Review Board, is gone. Bobby Kennedy is gone. All of them destroyed in a moment of madness and violence. And we have got to stop violence in America, before that destroys our society....
Current policies of the UAW concerning violence.
Domestic Violence and Violence Against Children (click here)
The UAW is a union that bargains for families. Any and all forms of domestic violence are a direct attack on our members and our most deeply held values....
