Even as the economy showed signs of getting its second wind, a new threat arosethe possibility of the first serious wave of strikes since 1947. Now, as then, the test would come in the nation's two biggest industries, steel and autos. In both, the C.I.O. was already threatening to strike to get a fourth round of wage boosts.
With the Ford contract on a day-to-day basis, the United Auto Workers' Walter Reuther insisted that only a surrender by Ford could avert a strike; "We are prepared," cried Reuther, "to use all the weapons possessed by free labor in America." The steel workers...
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