75 Facts About Owen Bieber

Owen Frederick Bieber was an American labor union activist.

Owen Bieber was president of the United Auto Workers from 1983 to 1995.

Owen Bieber's father was employed at the company, and had co-founded a UAW local there.

Owen Bieber himself became active within the local, rising from shop steward to its president between 1949 and 1956.

Owen Bieber oversaw the union during the shrinking of the automobile manufacturing industry in the US, and led them through a number of tense negotiations with the Big Three automobile manufacturers that included strikes and other labor action.

Owen Bieber's presidency saw the splintering of his own union, with the Canadian division breaking off to form its own independent organization, amid deep internal divisions which developed throughout his term.

Owen F Bieber was born in December 1929 to Albert F and Minnie Bieber in the hamlet of North Dorr, Dorr Township, Allegan County, Michigan.

Owen Bieber's father was of German descent and an autoworker at McInerney Spring and Wire Company who had co-founded UAW Local 687.

The family were devout Roman Catholics, and Owen Bieber attended Visitation Elementary School and Catholic Central High School in nearby Grand Rapids.

Owen Bieber graduated from high school in 1948, and in July of that year took a job at McInerney Spring and Wire as a wire bender, making seats for Cadillac and Hudson cars.

Owen Bieber was elected a shop steward of Local 687 in 1949, and in 1951 was elected to the local's executive board.

Owen Bieber was elected to Local 687's collective bargaining committee in 1955, and became the local's president in 1956.

Owen Bieber retired as Local 687's president in 1962, and took a full-time position as an international representative and organizer with the UAW.

Owen Bieber worked closely with Kenneth W Robinson, the director of UAW Region 1D.

Robinson promoted Owen Bieber to servicing representative in 1964, and made him his personal aide.

Owen Bieber was elected as his successor, and held the position until 1980.

In 1980, Owen Bieber won election as vice president of the General Motors Department of the UAW.

Owen Bieber won the election at the UAW's national convention in June 1980, receiving the highest number of votes of any candidate.

Owen Bieber was GM Department director for just two and a half years, but negotiated a historic contract with General Motors in 1982.

In March 1981, nine months after Owen Bieber became GM Department head, GM asked the union to reopen its contract and negotiation concessions but the union refused.

Owen Bieber angrily denounced the pay plan and GM backed off the proposal just two days later; however, the damage was done.

Owen Bieber began local bargaining over the work rules, but angry workers refused to negotiate any changes and bargaining ended in July 1982 with no changes.

When GM signed a compact with Toyota to co-own and co-manufacture automobiles in California, Owen Bieber worked to prevent UAW members in affected GM plants from engaging in a wildcat strike.

Owen Bieber later said he "agonized" about entering the race for the presidency after realizing what a heavy burden it might become.

Days later, a survey of 130 UAW local leaders in Michigan showed that Ephlin and Owen Bieber had the most grassroots support, with Majerus a distant fourth behind Yokich.

Owen Bieber appeared to have gained ground because he was a compromise candidate acceptable to both the Ephlin and Majerus camps.

Owen Bieber's campaigning among the regional directors, who formed a majority on the executive board, swung the election in his favor.

Owen Bieber's election marked the end of an era in the UAW.

Owen Bieber was the first UAW president who did not work directly with the founders of the union and who did not work directly and closely with Walter Reuther.

Owen Bieber was often reticent to the point of shyness with the press, and took lessons from broadcasters to improve his speaking.

Owen Bieber joined the Chrysler board in October 1984, and remained on it until 1991.

Walter Reuther and other presidents of the UAW had been active in a number of social issues, and Owen Bieber continued that tradition.

Owen Bieber joined the National Labor Committee, a group which opposed US support for the Contras in Nicaragua.

Owen Bieber successfully put pressure on GM to pay these workers until they had been convicted.

Owen Bieber began pressing for a national industrial policy in June 1983, shortly after his election as UAW president.

Owen Bieber oversaw the negotiation of a number of contracts with the Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors during his 12 years in office.

Owen Bieber announced in December 1985 that he would again seek election as UAW president.

Owen Bieber won reelection with no opposition in June 1986.

Owen Bieber oversaw a fourth round of collective bargaining talks in 1987.

Owen Bieber agreed to establish joint committees at the national and local levels to explore the use of work teams, changing inefficient work rules, and reducing the number of job classifications.

Owen Bieber ran for reelection again in 1988 and won against no opposition.

Owen Bieber had little to do with the strike, which was approved by GM Department Director Stephen Yokich.

Owen Bieber did not need a contract extension this time, and negotiated a contract identical in wage structure to the 1987 agreement.

Owen Bieber suffered a serious loss at industrial equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc.

At the urging of federal mediators, Bieber met one-on-one with Caterpillar Chief Executive Officer Donald V Fites.

Owen Bieber left the meeting convinced that the UAW was left with no alternative but to accept Caterpillar's offer.

Owen Bieber announced he would run for reelection as UAW president in 1992.

In January 1992, shortly after Owen Bieber's candidacy was approved by the Administrative Caucus and Steering Committee, he was challenged for the presidency by Jerry Tucker, a former executive board member and leader of the reformist "New Directions" caucus.

The Detroit Free Press later said that Owen Bieber formally approved the strike, but Yokich was the "quarterback" who actually led the union through it.

Owen Bieber chose Ford as the strike target, and the company focused on reining in health care costs as its major goal.

Owen Bieber pledged at the start of his presidency to organize new workers but largely failed.

Owen Bieber made a number of efforts to organize new workers early in his presidency but in his last years in office budgeted little money and staff resources to the effort.

Owen Bieber did not invest staff or money into mobilizing UAW members to assist in organizing campaigns.

In September 1983, Owen Bieber negotiated an agreement in which the union was able to extend its collective bargaining contract over the joint GM-Toyota New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont, California.

Owen Bieber later called these his "most painful" experiences as UAW president.

That year, the Canadian UAW leadership learned that Owen Bieber had actively resisted and counteracted their attempts to avoid a concessionary contract.

The Canadian locals learned that Owen Bieber had threatened to withdraw authorization for their strike, which would have left them without strike pay.

Owen Bieber strongly opposed the plan, and the UAW executive board rejected it by a vote of 24-to-1.

Owen Bieber openly supported Worley, and Tucker's supporters alleged that the UAW hierarchy had illegally expended union funds in support of Worley's reelection effort.

When Tucker attacked the caucus system of running the union as undemocratic, Owen Bieber angry denounced him and said that Tucker had not only participated in the Administrative Caucus meetings in which Worley was renominated but knew about the 90-day leave of absence rule and chose to ignore it.

Owen Bieber strongly criticized the New Directions leadership for not offering concrete alternatives to jointedness, and delivered a strong speech in favor of labor-management cooperation.

Owen Bieber's speech had a strong effect on the convention delegates.

Owen Bieber's was the first serious leadership challenge in 40 years.

Owen Bieber himself said his proudest moment came in 1990 with the establishment of the layoff income fund.

Owen Bieber retired in 1995, and Stephen Yokich succeeded him as UAW president.

In 1992, Owen Bieber was unable to win AFL-CIO support for a Democratic presidential primary candidate after his preferred candidate, Senator Tom Harkin, withdrew from the race in March 1992.

Owen Bieber was elected to the Executive Council of the AFL-CIO shortly after assuming the UAW presidency, and served as chair of the Committee on Reindustrialization of the AFL-CIO's Industrial Union Department.

Owen Bieber strongly supported the successful candidacy of John Sweeney as his successor.

Owen Bieber stepped down as UAW president before the AFL-CIO quadrennial convention in August 1995 and left to Yokich the actual job of electing a successor to Kirkland.

Owen Bieber served on the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and was a long-time member of the National Urban League.

Owen Bieber was a veteran member of the board of directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Evers-Williams' supporters knew that Owen Bieber wanted Gibson removed, but that Owen Bieber rarely attended NAACP board meetings.

Owen Bieber was heavily involved in his local community as well.

Owen Bieber served on the board of directors of Project Rehab, the Michigan League for Human Services, West Michigan Comprehensive Health Planning Unit, the Michigan State Health Advisory Board, and the Michigan State Mental Health Board.

Owen Bieber was a member of the Personnel and Labor Advisory Council of Grand Valley State College.