In the Center of the Ring : GM Strike Tests Two New Leaders Unused to Giving In
The local strike that has crippled General Motors Corp.’s operations has turned into a monumental test of wills involving men new to their jobs and not given to backing down.
GM’s most public face in the dispute has been Harry Pearce, a steely-eyed lawyer who in January became the company’s vice chairman. He takes a hard-edged approach to cost cutting and has the backing of some of GM’s most influential board members, including director and former Chairman John Smale.
The strategy of the United Auto Workers union is being directed by Stephen Yokich, a combative negotiator who ascended to the UAW presidency last summer. His tough-guy image has made him popular among the rank and file.
While underlings are handling the direct talks in Dayton, Ohio--which continued Tuesday as the strike entered its third week--the shots clearly are being called from GM headquarters and the UAW’s Solidarity House in Detroit.
“I think there are two sets of talks going on, one in Dayton and one in Detroit,” said Dale Brickner, a labor professor at Michigan State University. “Detroit could well impose a final settlement on Dayton.”
Pearce’s duties give him oversight on labor matters. But GM insiders say he is working closely with John F. Smith, chairman and chief executive; G. Richard Wagoner, president of GM’s North American operations; and J.T. Battenberg, head of Delphi Automotive Systems, GM’s huge auto parts unit.
Yokich, a hard-nosed, savvy strategist, is being helped by Richard Shoemaker, the UAW vice president in charge of GM negotiations. The taciturn Shoemaker was the top aide to former UAW President Owen Bieber.
The behind-the-scenes involvement of such high-level officials illustrates the importance that both sides attach to the resolution of the strike at two Dayton brake plants. The factories make brake parts for about 90% of GM’s vehicles, and as of Tuesday the shortage of components had forced the company to close 26 of 29 assembly plants, curtail operations at 87 other parts plants and idle about 167,000 GM hourly workers.
Independent suppliers have also been hit by the dispute and have laid off thousands of workers. The dispute is costing GM up to $50 million a day in lost profit, analysts say.
The dispute’s central issue is outsourcing, the shifting of in-house work to outside suppliers. Outsourcing is a hot button that translates into job security for the UAW and global competitiveness for GM. It is certain to be a focal point of national contract talks this summer.
Yokich, 60, is steeped in union history. A third-generation unionist, he participated in his first strike as a toddler when his mother pushed his stroller as she walked the picket line against GM.
Outspoken and aggressive, he became known as a firebrand when he oversaw a bitter 205-day strike against Caterpillar in 1983. Ironically, he ended another walkout against Caterpillar last year after he took over the union.
While Yokich is often portrayed as an unreasonable militant, his record suggests a pragmatist who tries to balance the demands of his workers with the realities of the competitive marketplace. While heading the union’s Ford Motor Co. department, he helped foster good labor-management relationships that continue there today.
But at GM, Yokich has often bristled at the company’s clumsy downsizing efforts. He authorized nine local strikes against GM in the last two years, often for what he says are “promises made, promises broken.” He is not strike-happy, he insists.
Still, the latest strike authorized by Yokich has prompted an unusually strong reaction from GM. “He’s drawn the ire of Pearce, Smith, Wagner and Smale,” said James Harbour, a Troy, Mich., auto manufacturing consultant.
Pearce, 53, emerged as GM’s point man shortly after its plants began closing like dominoes. His very presence in the labor talks is seen as a message that GM is serious about outsourcing.
Pearce emerged as a national figure and a GM power broker in 1993 when he proved that “NBC Dateline” had rigged crash tests showing that fuel tanks on some GM pickup trucks exploded in side-impact crashes. NBC retracted the story.
It is not the first big case he won. Pearce came to the attention of top GM officials in the 1980s when he represented the company in a noted product liability case.
“He seems to be the hero GM wants,” said Sean McAlinden, a labor economist at the University of Michigan. “He stood up for them in a very bad period. Gosh, he probably could have beaten Ralph Nader.”
Pearce, an Air Force Academy graduate with short-cropped hair and a military bearing, joined the company as assistant general counsel in the 1980s. He is regarded as a top candidate to succeed Smith.
