International Harvester’s CEO during bitter strike

Archie R. McCardell, the executive who was in charge at International Harvester during a 172-day strike by United Auto Workers that began in 1979 and dealt a punishing financial blow to the company, died of complications from heart failure Friday in a Casper, Wyo., hospital, said his grandson, Scott Arcenas. McCardell was 81 and had lived in Wyoming since 1998.

Previously president and chief operating officer at Xerox, McCardell joined International Harvester in 1977. The venerable Chicago company’s roots reach back to Cyrus McCormick’s reaper, and McCardell took over from family heir Brooks McCormick, who recruited him.

McCardell started as president and was named chief executive a few months later, focusing on cost-cutting and efficiencies. His compensation package was eye-opening for the time -- a reported $1.5-million signing bonus and a $450,000 annual salary. In 1979, McCardell’s second year on the job, International Harvester posted record earnings of nearly $400 million.

But simmering labor issues erupted on Nov. 1, 1979, when 35,000 company employees represented by the United Auto Workers walked out. A settlement wasn’t reached until the following April.

The strike cost the company millions of dollars and, along with a recession, led to a downward spiral that resulted in units being sold. In 1986, what was left of the once mighty company took the name Navistar.

The strike was the backdrop for a public relations fiasco when it was learned that in August 1980, the company forgave a $1.8-million loan to McCardell because certain financial goals had been reached.

Amid mounting losses, McCardell resigned from International Harvester in May 1982 at the request of company directors.

McCardell was born in Michigan in 1926 and served in the Army Air Forces before earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business at the University of Michigan.

He worked at Ford Motor Co. for many years, including a stint as director of finance in Germany, before joining Xerox in 1966. There he helped initiate a program that offered paid leave to employees who wanted to volunteer in their communities.

After leaving International Harvester, McCardell and his family led the development of the land around his Connecticut home, the former Pepperidge Farm estate.

McCardell’s survivors include his wife, Margaret; a son, Clay; two daughters, Laurie and Sandra; two brothers, Allan and Arnold; a sister, JoAnne Iwanicki; and five grandchildren.