Ray Grebey's Greatest Hit (Blame It on the Manhattan Project)

Ray Grebey, Negotiator in ’81 Baseball Strike, Dies at 85. (The New York Times, 9/4/2013)



The Countdown:

• Mr. Grebey began his management career in labor relations at Inland Steel Corporation, where a strike forced him to work at the blast furnace as a laborer.  (Ooh! Ooh! Sounds like a major life event.)
• He moved on to General Electric, where electrical workers went on a 109-day strike.
• But the players did strike on June 12, 1981, and lost $28 million in salaries. Owners lost $72 million, even after collecting $44 million in strike insurance.
• Through Mr. Grebey’s negotiating, Pan Am won the right to use more part-time workers, pay new workers lower wages and cut some benefits.