Douglas Andrew Fraser was born on December 18, 1916, and passed away on February 23, 2008. He was a union leader who was born in Scotland but lived in the United States. From 1977 to 1983, he served as president of the United Auto Workers. For many years, he also worked as a part-time professor of labor relations at Wayne State University.

He is most known for helping to save the Chrysler company from going out of business in 1979. He asked the United States Congress to provide a loan and persuaded workers to agree to changes that would help the company. In 2006, he was honored with the Walter P. Reuther Humanitarian Award by Wayne State University.

Early life

Fraser was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on December 18, 1916. His father, Samuel, was an electrician and an active trade unionist. The family was very poor, and Samuel, who worked at a brewery, sometimes used stolen whiskey to heat the family stove.

Samuel Fraser moved to Detroit, Michigan, while his son was still a young boy in 1922. Samuel, his mother, Douglas, his sister, and his brother traveled by ship to New York City aboard the SS Cameronia. They were examined at Ellis Island on April 23, 1923, and then traveled by train to their new home in Detroit.

Douglas was strongly affected by the Great Depression. His father was unemployed for long periods, and he said that seeing the poverty and social problems in society changed his life.

He left high school at age 18, worked in a machine shop, and held several jobs in the automobile industry.

Early union career

Fraser started working as a metal finisher in one of Chrysler's DeSoto factories. He became active in the union in 1936. He was fired twice for his union activities. He also took part in sitdown strikes at Chrysler.

In 1943, Fraser was elected president of UAW Local 227. He served in the US Army during World War II.

After the war, Fraser quickly moved up in the UAW. He became an international representative in 1947. During a 104-day strike at Chrysler in 1950, he impressed UAW staff with his ability to negotiate. In 1951, he joined the personal staff of UAW President Walter Reuther. He worked as Reuther's personal administrative assistant.

In 1959, Fraser was elected co-director of UAW Region 1A. In 1962, he became a member-at-large of the international UAW board of directors. Reuther later appointed him director of the UAW's Chrysler, Skilled Trades, and Technical, Office and Professional Departments. In 1970, he was elected a vice-president of the international union.

As a key member of Reuther's staff, Fraser helped create several successful agreements. These included an early retirement program in 1964 and wage equality for US and Canadian members in 1967. Reuther died in a plane crash during the 1970 contract talks. Many people thought Fraser might become union president. However, after a close vote by the UAW executive council, Fraser withdrew his name. Leonard Woodcock became union president instead.

In 1973, Fraser led a nine-day strike against Chrysler. This was the first strike against the automaker in many years. A collective bargaining agreement was reached five days later. It was approved on September 23. The agreement included rules about mandatory overtime, a health-and-safety program, improvements to the early retirement plan, and new dental care benefits. A new process for resolving disputes was also created, which made it faster to handle grievances.

UAW presidency

Fraser was president of the UAW from 1977 to 1983. He became president after Woodcock reached the required age of 65, as stated in the UAW constitution.

He is best known for negotiating a greater role for the union in Chrysler’s decisions during the 1979 bankruptcy. Chrysler received a government loan after this crisis. Fraser organized UAW members and worked with Congress to help the government provide $1.2 billion in loans, which saved Chrysler from bankruptcy. He used Reuther’s "equality of sacrifice" formula to explain to UAW members that major changes were needed to save the company. Fraser then negotiated wage cuts of $3 per hour and allowed more layoffs, which helped Chrysler reduce nearly 50,000 jobs, about half its workforce. In a rare action, Chrysler Corporation added Fraser to its board of directors, where he served from 1980 to 1984.

In 1976, Fraser had pushed for automobile companies to include UAW members on their boards. He was the first labor leader to serve on the board of a major American company.

In 1982, Fraser negotiated another round of agreements that reduced wages and benefits. The early 1980s recession hurt Ford Motor Company badly. To help Ford, Fraser negotiated major cuts in wages and benefits. The same cuts were also made at General Motors, as Fraser wanted wages to remain similar across the industry to prevent unfair advantages.

Some people strongly criticized Fraser’s 1979 negotiations. They said the Chrysler agreement led to many other companies making similar deals that reduced workers’ rights. They also claimed that a 30-year agreement between workers and company leaders ended after 1979, causing companies to stop offering job protections and cost-of-living increases.

Social activism

Fraser was involved in politics throughout his life. As a Democrat, he openly supported liberal ideas. He was socially progressive and strongly supported the Civil Rights Movement. He went against the majority of UAW members by strongly supporting desegregation busing in public schools. Despite opposition from some staff and members, he started efforts within the UAW and the auto industry to bring more minorities and women into these groups. He also advocated for national health insurance.

Retirement

Fraser left his job as president of the UAW in 1983. For many years, he worked as a part-time professor at Wayne State University, where he taught about how workers and unions interact and the history of labor movements. A research center focused on workplace issues, called the Douglas A. Fraser Center for Workplace Issues, was named in his honor. Fraser was given The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence for his important work that helped shape life in America.

Death

Douglas Fraser died on February 23, 2008, from complications caused by emphysema at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan.

Archival collections

His life and work are recorded in historical materials stored at the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University. His roles as UAW president, vice-president, and university professor are written about in separate collections. The materials include personal letters, official notes, photographs, and other types of records. Researchers are told to look for these collections on the Walter P. Reuther Library website.

Quotes

• "Chrysler workers helped save the Chrysler Corporation."
• "Size alone is not the only way to measure a labor union. A union’s strength depends on its activity. Even with fewer resources, a union can be powerful if it uses its resources for communication, organization, and political efforts."
• "I believe most business leaders today are fighting an unfair battle against workers, the unemployed, the poor, minorities, young and elderly people, and even many in the middle class."
• "I would prefer to be with people who help the poor, children in struggling cities, victims of racism, and workers trying to improve their lives, rather than with those who support the current system, focus only on profit, and show little care for others."
• "That is not a good enough answer. Business is about making money, but labor leaders should focus on helping workers." (in response to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney's statement: "There is no more corruption in unions than there is in business or in Congress.")