Douglas Andrew Fraser was a Scottish - American union leader.
27 Facts About Douglas Fraser
2.
Douglas Fraser was president of the United Auto Workers from 1977 to 1983 and an adjunct professor of labor relations at Wayne State University for many years.
3.
Douglas Fraser is best remembered for helping to save Chrysler from bankruptcy in 1979 by heavily lobbying the US Congress for a loan and convincing workers to make concessions.
4.
Douglas Fraser received the Walter P Reuther Humanitarian Award from Wayne State University in 2006.
5.
Douglas Fraser's father, Samuel, was an electrician and an active and vocal trade unionist.
6.
Samuel Douglas Fraser moved to Detroit, Michigan, while his son was still a young boy, in 1922.
7.
Douglas Fraser's father was out of work for long periods, and he admitted that the poverty and social disorder that he witnessed changed his life.
8.
Douglas Fraser dropped out of high school when he was 18, worked in a machine shop, and took several jobs in the automobile industry.
9.
Douglas Fraser eventually found work as a metal finisher in one of Chrysler's DeSoto factories, where he became active in the union in 1936.
10.
Douglas Fraser was twice fired for his union beliefs and activities and participated sitdown strikes at Chrysler.
11.
Douglas Fraser was elected president of UAW Local 227 in 1943, and served in the US Army during World War II.
12.
Douglas Fraser joined the personal staff of UAW President Walter Reuther in 1951, where he was a personal administrative assistant to Reuther.
13.
Douglas Fraser was elected a vice-president of the international union in 1970.
14.
Reuther died in a plane crash during the 1970 contract talks, leading many to speculate that Douglas Fraser might be tapped to lead the union.
15.
However, after a deeply-divided vote of the UAW executive council voted 13-to-12 against him, Douglas Fraser withdrew his name, and Leonard Woodcock became union president.
16.
Douglas Fraser led a nine-day strike against Chrysler that began on September 14,1973, the first against the automaker in decades.
17.
Douglas Fraser was elected president after Woodcock had reached the mandatory retirement age of 65, according to the UAW constitution.
18.
Douglas Fraser is best known for his role in negotiating a greater voice for the union in corporate governance with Chrysler during the company's 1979 bankruptcy crisis and subsequent government-sponsored loan.
19.
Douglas Fraser mobilized UAW members and heavily lobbied Congress in a move that proved critical to convincing the government to provide $1.2 billion in federally-guaranteed loans, which enabled Chrysler to avoid bankruptcy.
20.
Douglas Fraser used Reuther's "equality of sacrifice" formula to convince UAW members that major concessions were needed to save the company.
21.
Douglas Fraser then negotiated wage cuts of $3 an hour and waived restrictions on layoffs, which allowed Chrysler to shed nearly 50,000 jobs, about half its workforce.
22.
Douglas Fraser had pressed for automobile manufacturers to put UAW members on their boards in 1976.
23.
Douglas Fraser was the first labor leader to sit on the board of directors of an important American company.
24.
Douglas Fraser defied most UAW in his strong support of desegregation busing in public schools.
25.
Douglas Fraser was an adjunct professor at Wayne State University for many years, teaching labor relations and labor history.
26.
Douglas Fraser received The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence for his significant contributions to life in America.
27.
Douglas Fraser died on February 23,2008, of complications from emphysema at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan.