Walter Reuther: National Hour Radio Address on Inflation

As head of the United Automobile Workers, Walter Reuther was one of the most important figures in the history of American labor. Not only did he win significant benefits for manufacturing workers, he also had a revolutionary vision for a society that would form a partnership between management, business, and workers in decision making. In his many public addresses, Reuther sought to depict the American laborer as part of the middle class, placing blue-collar and white-collar workers on the same level. When General Motors (GM) workers went on strike for higher wages in 1940, Reuther took to the airwaves in his National Hour Radio Address on Inflation to defend the pay increase as a way to stem inflation.