The early returns were unsettling. As members of the United Auto Workers voted last week on a new three-year contract with General Motors, word leaked out that at least 22 of the union's 149 locals had turned down the agreement. Many workers were dissatisfied with the proposed wage hike and lump-sum payments that would average 2.25% annually. But after U.A.W. President Owen Bieber warned that rejection would mean an immediate nationwide strike the vote totals began to shift in favor of the contract. At week's end union officials predicted approval by a 55% to 60% majority
Even so, GM may have...