A tough man for tough times

Former UAW President Owen Bieber said that while Doug Fraser brought the membership through many difficult battles, he will be remembered for his guidance during the Chrysler bailout and later critical negotiations at Ford and General Motors.

“That (the Chrysler bailout) was a terribly, terribly, terribly tough time for Doug. He handled it well. I don’t know if anyone else would have been successful in an endeavor like that,” Bieber recalled.

Bieber was president of the UAW and a Chrysler board member when Iacocca retired. Most of the Chrysler board heaped praise on him for “saving Chrysler.”

“Unfortunately, Lee Iacocca got all the praise for saving Chrysler. Lee liked praise – no question,” he said. “But every now and then I had to chime in and say, ‘Don’t forget, it was the workers who saved Chrysler – the workers and Doug Fraser’s leadership.

“I owe a great deal of debt to Doug for his help when I needed it,” Bieber added. “The one thing I hope people remember is that while he was a great leader of our union, he was a special individual.”