I think there was a little (or a lot) of blame to go around and all parties were somewhat responsible.

I see Schwinn as the Volkswagen of the bike industry back in the seventies. They waited too long to bring imported bikes into their lineup, and produced the Varsity for way too long. They needed to modernize their factory back in the sixties and shoudn't have gotten complacent during the big boom years of the early seventies. Then when the BMX crazed hit they just sat on thier hands.

Was the union responsible? Maybe partly. I think management was lethargic and stupid, which allowed the union to get a toehold, something that was unlikely to happen before Ed started mismanaging.

I have had a great interest in the late automaker Studebaker, who closed US operations in 1963. I once heard a line from the one of the local UAW leaders regarding their demise. Paraphrased, it goes something like this... "A union is strong only as management is weak. Studebaker management failed to manage." This pretty much sums up what probably happened at Schwinn, coupled with the buying public becoming much more sophisticated and in light of unbeatable competition from the far east.

Do I wish Schwinn had lived? Hell YES!