GM strike in early 1947

[LuckyFastEddie]

Any body heard that GM was on strike in early 47 and actually sold left over 46 trucks as 47s' .

[special-K]

No,I never knew that. I'd like to hear more if anybody has something to add.

[Todd68Chevy]

I have never heard of a strike but I do know I own a 1947 Chevy 1 1/2 ton that is the body style of the 41-46. I just started calling it a 46 because it is easier than fighting with people when they say that it is not a 47.

[Liz]

March 13, 1946 - General Motors corp. strike ended on 113th day of walkout when G.M. agreed to pay wage increase of 18 1/2 cents hourly to United Automobile Workers (C.I.O.). (source: The Britannica Archive)

http://www.britannica.com/facts/10/4...p-strike-ended

1945 - The UAW/CIO struck GM and its suppliers, resulting in loss of six months of production.
1946 Model EC350
1946 - GMC released "E" series light and medium duty trucks, similar to earlier models but with traditional materials replacing wartime subsitutes. 48 models were offered with up to 55,000 lbs. GVWR.

1947 - Midyear, redesigned "F" series light and medium duty models came out with many improvements.

1947 - Restyling included distinctive "Bumper Bar" grilles.

http://history.gmheritagecenter.com/..._Truck_History

I remember reading about the strike in school, and again when we were researching some stuff a while back. When I have the time, I will look into it a bit more. Love this kind of history.

[63 & 64 Bowties]

Originally Posted by Liz

I remember reading about the strike in school

Wow, what grade were you in in 1946?
(I'll probably get suspended for that comment)

Interesting stuff. I always heard it was all war related. I heard (don't remember where) it was because after making all the Jeeps, then the war ended and they didn't want to take the time to re-design and re-tool before offering the public new cars. Guess that's not true.

[Big Block]

edited

[Liz]

Originally Posted by 63 & 64 Bowties

Wow, what grade were you in in 1946?
(I'll probably get suspended for that comment)
.

[Liz]

Originally Posted by Big Block

edited

remember the political discussion rules on the site using a search engine and reading up on the discussions on what happened and why is quite interesting

[Big Block]

I was shocked that you included that link as info on the strike!!!! That web site is a Marxists web site. You posted it. I read it and that is my conclusion from the information presented on that page. I sorry if it offeneds anyone.

[Liz]

I was not promoting marxisim, socialism or anything else. That is why I was surprised with the reply.. I linked a quote from that site, that stated dates. It was clear cut information in the quote and was taken from britannica . It is proper when you quoting other sites to link the source. Without so, it is copyright infringement. I did not even consider beyond that nor intend to have discussion on the politics of it.. Since it will obviously cause an issue, it is removed, and the above posts edited.

[georgieboy]

I have a 47 half ton. I 've heard of the strike, but I thought the situtation was like the early 55s. They just weren't ready for the new model.

[Keith Seymore]

Liz - can you tell me what words/phrases you searched on?

I am interested in the dates of a UAW strike against GM in September of 1964.

I tried a couple searches on the site you linked and was not successful.

K

[tgriffin27]

1945 - The UAW/CIO struck GM and its suppliers, resulting in loss of six months of production.

1946 Model EC3501946 - GMC released "E" series light and medium duty trucks, similar to earlier models but with traditional materials replacing wartime subsitutes. 48 models were offered with up to 55,000 lbs. GVWR.

1947 - Midyear, redesigned "F" series light and medium duty models came out with many improvements.

[tgriffin27]

Looks like there may or may not have been a strike in 1964. Walter Reuther who started the strike at GM in 1946 Persuaded President Johnson to start what was called a chicken tax that slowed the importation of volkswagen vans that where classified as light trucks so they may have not had a strike. Below is the quote I got the information from. I hope this helps.

"Walter Reuther played a role in a historic episode during the early 1960's, known as the Chicken War. France and West Germany had placed tariffs on imports of U.S. chicken. Diplomacy failedand in January 1964, two months after taking office, President Johnson imposed a 25% tax (almost 10 times the average U.S. tariff) on potato starch, dextrin, brandy, and light trucks. Officially, the tax targeted items imported from Europe as approximating the value of lost American chicken sales to Europe.
In retrospect, audio tapes from the Johnson White House, revealed a quid pro quo unrelated to chicken. In January 1964, President Johnson attempted to persuade Reuther not to initiate a strike just prior to the 1964 election and to support the president's civil rights platform. Reuther in turn wanted Johnson to respond to Volkswagen's increased shipments to the United States;

The Chicken Tax directly curtailed importation of German-built Volkswagen Type 2 vans in configurations that qualified them as light trucks — that is, commercial vans and pickups. In 1964 U.S. imports of "automobile trucks" from West Germany declined to a value of $5.7 million—about one-third the value imported in the previous year. Soon after, Volkswagen cargo vans and pickup trucks, the intended targets, "practically disappeared from the U.S. market." As of today, the Chicken tax remains in effect."