At 6 o'clock one evening in Detroit's Hotel Statler, John L. Lewis shook his bushy head and sat up in bed to take his medicine. His secretary put a spoonful in his mouth. Mr. Lewis swallowed and made a face. He had influenza. Shortly a man left the sickroom. Newshawks in the corridor crowded around him asking, "How are things going?" The answer was curt: "Things are getting hot." To newshawks patroling the corridor all evening it seemed that the heating took a long time.
Visitors came and went. Midnight came, 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock. The newshawks in the corridor tried to encourage one another by saying that they thought that the voices in the sickroom were not so loud. Someone even thought he heard laughter. Finally the door opened. Out came Michigan's Governor Frank Murphy, his red hair awry, his face haggard. The Department of Labor's conciliator, James Francis Dewey, followed, his plump jowls sagging with fatigue. General Motors' Lawyer-Vice President John Thomas Smith emerged smiling. Newshawks trooped after them to the elevator, up to the presidential suite on the twelfth floor. Governor Murphy sat down at a desk and faced the press.
"An agreement has been reached under the terms of which the Union agrees to end the strike. The signing . . . at 11 a. m. . . ." Before he could finish his statement flashlights were popping, newshawks were rushing out to put the news on the wires. After eight days of almost uninterrupted negotiation in Detroit, the six-week strike, which had paralyzed General Motors and kept 135,000 men out of work, was over.
Morning came. The negotiators, except influenzial Mr. Lewis, appeared in the courtroom of Judge George Murphy, brother of the Governor. They waited till the judge concluded a case. Then court attendants arranged seats, floodlights and movie cameras were carried in. Spectators scrambled over the jury box looking for points of vantage. Governor Murphy took his seat between Wyndham Mortimer, vice president of the Automobile Workers, and General Motors' Executive Vice President William S. Knudsen. The Governor borrowed a pen from Mr. Mortimer. He and Conciliator Dewey signed, next Mr. Knudsen—still with the Union leader's pen— then Mr. Mortimer and other officials of the Union and General Motors. There was a hearty round of applause. Mr. Knudsen boomed: "Let us have peace and make automobiles."
Quid Pro Quo? From coast to coast Labor and Industry perused the text to see whether great General Motors Corp. or the militant C. I. 0. of Mr. Lewis had taken a licking.
The agreement stipulated: 1) the Union would call off the strike; 2) General Motors would recognize the Union as collective bargaining agent for its members; 3) both sides would behave peaceably— no coercion, no Union recruiting on company property, no more court action by the company; 4) both sides would begin negotiations this week on the grievances of the Union, and production would be resumed at once.