Walter Reuther, the C.I.O.'s cocky redhead, had a noticeable wilt to his comb this week. Somehow his swagger toward fame had bogged down in the quicksands of the wage-price formula and union politics.
Reuther had planned the strategy of beating the auto industry by knocking off General Motors first. Now everything was topsy-turvyit looked as if he might have succeeded only in knocking himself off.
After Ford and Chrysler quietly signed (for 18¢ and 18½¢ increases) Reuther had been left sadly exposed. Last week when General Motors made a "final offer" of 18½¢ an hour,...
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