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shotgun-wielding assassin fired at him through a closed window, hitting
Reuther in the face and upper body. Waking in the hospital Reuther told his surgeon, "Take my eye, or my arm or leg, but spare my tongue. I've got a living to make." Reuther lost an eye and the partial use of one arm but survived. The gunman was never caught. Even though the Detroit police had some very good eyewitness accounts and descriptions, they never followed up successfully on any of the leads. One neighbor offered descriptions of the shooter to police, but he was rejected and began receiving anonymous phone calls telling him to shut up. His brother Walter had earlier survived an April 1948 incident in which he was hit by a shotgun blast through his kitchen window. Reuther happened to turn towards his wife, and was hit in the arm instead of the chest and heart. That crime also was never solved.
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Reuther recovered from the assassination attempt and continued to lead the union's
Education Department for several more years. He was eventually named the UAW's International Director. He was active in the labor movement of many European countries, and became very well known in the Canadian union
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In 1947, his brother Walter was elected as the president of the UAW. Shortly after that Victor became the head of the union's
Education Department. He was a vocal advocate of the recruitment of women, minorities, and young people into leadership positions for the union. Reuther saw the positive
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claiming that neighbors were complaining about his dogs barking. When he went outside to check on the dog, a parked car drove away from the front of his house. After the police issued a "final warning" he gave the dog to some friends. The next evening, while he was reading a newspaper, a
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He felt that the UAW had been giving too much in the way of concessions to the US corporations, and it was his belief that the
Canadian union would set a good example for their US counterpart. He remained active well into his declining years and died in Washington at the age of 92.
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The strike was eventually settled in
February 1937, with many gains for the workers, but Victor had to leave town with his wife, Sophie (the union's first female organizer), to evade a warrant that had been issued for his arrest by a GM-owned
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of the idle machinery and infrastructure that could be turned over to military production, and subsequently there were much stricter controls on how, when, and where government allocations to private corporations could be spent.
364:. Materials include personal papers, such as correspondence and notes, as well as administrative files relating to his activities in various UAW departments. Researchers are encouraged to find the collections at its
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of the violent pro-company police. He was famous for driving around Flint in a car with a loudspeaker mounted on the roof, encouraging the striking workers who were occupying the factories. Reuther was then 24.
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on
December 7, 1941, and for millions of American workers, industrial production was converted to supplying war material. Reuther was among the first to sense the waste and extravagant spending that the large
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scene. His brother, Walter, was killed in a plane crash in 1970, and in 1973, Victor decided to retire and write his memoir "The
Brothers Reuther and the Story of the UAW," which was published in 1976.
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and rallies and earned much respect for his unyielding view that working people should always be making gains in terms of wages and working conditions. During the separation of the UAW and the
234:(GM) workers in Flint took action, and the strike eventually spread to over 100 other production facilities. During the strike, 90% of GM production was stopped for lack of parts and labor.
382:
Reuther, Victor G. "Verraten in Gorki. Die Tragödie der ausländischen
Arbeiter in den sowjetischen Autowerken in Gorki." Bonn: Verlag J.H.W. Dietz Nachf. GmbH, 2002 (in German)
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The
Reuther brothers' busts at the Walter and May Reuther UAW Family Education Center in northern Michigan. From left to right, Roy Reuther, Walter Reuther, and Victor Reuther.
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Reuther, Victor G. "Die
Brueder Reuther. Eine Autobiographie sowie die Geschichte der amerikanischen Automobilarbeitergewerkschaft UAW." Koeln: Bund Verlag GmbH, 1989
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union (UAW) and Victor became the head of that union's Education Dept. and an organizer on the international level. He was a proponent of
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307:. Through the remainder of his life he continued to be a strong supporter of the union movement in Germany and the rest of Europe.
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109:(January 1, 1912 – June 3, 2004) was a prominent international labor organizer. He was one of three Reuther brothers (
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Reuther, Sources G. "The Brothers Reuther and the Story of the UAW: A Memoir." Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976.
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His life and roles in the United Automobile Workers are documented through several archival collections at the
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The Forsaken: From the Great Depression to the Gulags : Hope and Betrayal in Stalin's Russia
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Dirty Truths: reflections on politics, media, ideology, conspiracy, ethnic life and class power
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that would eventually become the UAW. Reuther lent his support and leadership to the
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348:(CAW) in the mid-1980s, he was fully supportive of the Canadian workers' motives.
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American Vanguard: The United Auto Workers during the Reuther Years, 1935-1970.
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workers would bring to the workplace and to future generations of workers.
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Later, at the urging of his brother Walter, he attended what is now
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Returning to the United States in 1936, Victor took a job at the
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brewery worker who had immigrated from Germany. His father was a
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207:. It was there that he started to organize the workers into a
168:. Subsequently, he then joined Walter on an extended trip to
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Part of Our Time: Some Ruins and Monuments of the Thirties
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Reuther meeting President Clinton at The White House, 1995
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were engaging in now that they were getting lucrative
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303:and was instrumental in the reorganization of its
470:. San Francisco: City Lights Books. p. 195.
323:In 1949, Victor began receiving calls from the
311:results that offering further education to the
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215:where he faced down the billy clubs and
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424:: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
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192:, demanding safer working conditions.
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549:People from Wheeling, West Virginia
483:Wayne State U. Press, 2004. 607 pp.
299:After the war, Reuther traveled to
514:Trade unionists from West Virginia
176:, when the brothers worked in the
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519:West Virginia University alumni
439:Tzouliadis, Tim (August 2009).
180:. The Reuthers were eventually
493:(1955, repr. 1998, repr. 2004)
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524:Wayne State University alumni
100:International labor organizer
489:. "The Reuther Brothers" in
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529:United Auto Workers people
261:The United States entered
245:He and Sophie ended up in
213:1936 General Motors Strike
197:Kelsey-Hayes Wheel Company
466:Parenti, Michael (1996).
362:Walter P. Reuther Library
340:He continued to speak at
325:Detroit Police Department
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155:West Virginia University
70:Wheeling, West Virginia
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184:and expelled from the
178:Gorky Automotive Plant
166:Wayne State University
346:Canadian Auto Workers
319:Assassination Attempt
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107:Victor George Reuther
56:Victor George Reuther
27:American labor leader
278:, and informed the
119:United Auto Workers
498:The CIO, 1935-1955
496:Zieger, Robert H.
274:. Reuther went to
272:military contracts
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534:American amputees
452:978-0-349-11753-9
342:union conventions
247:Anderson, Indiana
149:and supporter of
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479:Barnard, John.
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409:. Retrieved
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268:corporations
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83:(2004-06-03)
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544:2004 deaths
539:1912 births
182:blacklisted
151:Eugene Debs
129:Early years
508:Categories
445:. Abacus.
411:2015-12-15
387:References
332:Later life
159:Morgantown
97:Occupation
62:1912-01-01
288:Democrats
280:Roosevelt
143:socialist
420:cite web
356:Archives
284:New Deal
217:tear gas
205:Michigan
135:Wheeling
366:website
301:Germany
295:Postwar
500:(1995)
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190:strike
170:Europe
111:Walter
91:, U.S.
72:, U.S.
240:judge
209:union
201:Flint
199:, in
447:ISBN
426:link
174:Asia
172:and
113:and
78:Died
52:Born
157:in
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