The Assassination of Walter Reuther: Why They Did It, How We Know

by Rob McKenzie

In 1970, Walter Reuther, the formidable president of the United Auto Workers, died along with his wife and four others in a fiery plane crash near Pellston, Michigan. The official story pointed to a tragic accident, but many who knew the powerful and controversial labor leader believed it was something far more sinister.

Rob began his career as an Auto Assembler at the Ford Motor Co., then was a member of the UAW District Committee from 1987 to 1990, followed by work as an Industrial Electrician. He served as President of UAW 879 and was UAW International Regional Servicing Representative 2006-2016.

After retiring, McKenzie began to explore labor’s fight over its extensive collaboration with the CIA during the Cold War. This is his second book on the topic.

Connections within organized labor helped dig up long-suppressed documents. First-hand knowledge and decades of experience in the UAW provide a new perspective on Reuther’s life, death, and legacy.

166 pages, Paperback

Published August 16, 2025

About the author

After graduating from the University of Iowa with a BA degree, I began working in Midwestern factories and pursued my interest in labor politics and organizing. In 1978, Ford Motor Co. hired me as an assembler at the Twin City Ford Assembly Plant in St. Paul, Minnesota, where I worked for 28 years as an assembler, industrial electrician, and full-time union representative. In 1998, I became President of UAW 879 at the Ford plant and was elected to that office three more times, serving from 1998 to 2006. When Ford announced their decision to close the Twin Cities Plant in 2006, I took a job on the International UAW staff as a regional servicing representative working in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. I was elected to and served on the Minnesota State AFL-CIO Executive Board for twelve years as a multi-union representative. Additionally, I was elected secretary-treasurer of UAW Ford Sub-Council #2, a national bargaining council comprising U.S. Ford assembly plants, from 2002 to 2006. I retired in 2016 and began researching an attack on Ford workers at a plant near Mexico City