Johnson strike shows auto industry muscle, problems of short supplies.(Chicago Tribune)

Johnson Controls Inc., backing down less than 72 hours after about 700 striking workers closed a handful of its factories, reached a settlement Friday that allowed the Milwaukee auto-parts maker _ and the unhappy auto manufacturers that buy Johnson parts _ to swiftly resume production.

"This is an important victory for our members at Johnson Controls," said Ron Gettelfinger, the United Auto Workers union's recently installed president.

While the scale of the brief walkout was modest, the outcome is widely being seen as evidence that there could be more punishing jousts between autoworkers and independent parts manufacturers.

The strike "was not about Johnson Controls, and not about these …