March 13, 1981

A photograph in The Times on Monday, accompanying the obituary of Hede Massing, former wife of Gerhart Eisler, was misidentified. It showed Mr. Eisler's second wife, Hilde Eisler.

Representative Jim Wright of Texas, the majority leader, is urging his Democratic colleagues in the House to take a critical, hard-line approach to President Reagan's economic package of tax and budget cuts. In a nine-page analysis of the Reagan program, which he sent to each of the 242 House Democrats, Mr. Wright asserted that the package ''imposes a grossly unfair burden on those least able to carry that burden, those Mr. Reagan describes as the 'truly needy.' '' In an accompanying letter, the majority leader suggested that members might use his analysis in preparing public comments about the Reagan proposals. The letter is the latest example of a growing Democratic counterattack against the President's program. Party leaders say they support the goals of the program and promise expeditious consideration. And, saying they recognized the need to hold spending down, the Democrats voted with the rest of Congress today against a pay increase for Federal employees. (Page A15.)

With his Cabinet split, President Reagan has put off one of the most important economic decisions of his young Administration, whether to seek relief for the troubled American automobile industry by asking Japan to voluntarily restrain its car exports to this country. The Cabinet has been so divided that a decision originally scheduled to be made at a Cabinet meeting today has been deferred in hopes of forging some compromise between a purist free-market faction that philosophically opposes import restraint and a pragmatist faction that argues that Mr. Reagan cannot afford politically or economically to deny the automobile industry the relief. The ultimate decision will test the President's overall economic policy and its practical application toward ailing domestic industries. It will also test his campaign pledge, to the important blue-collar constituency in the auto-producing states that helped carry him into office last November, that he would aim to convince the Japanese of the need for restraints.

Standard Oil Company of Ohio will buy Kennecott for almost $1.8 billion in cash, the two companies announced. The pact was the third multibillion-dollar takeover to be announced in the last week, and the second involving a major American oil company. (A1.) Consolidated Edison was granted a 15.5 percent increase in electric rates by the New York State Public Service Commission. The new rates will lift the basic charge for a typical residential customer by $5 a month in New York City and by $7.50 in Westchester County. The increase, the largest ever granted to Con Ed, will add $449.5 million to annual revenues. (A1.)

Until 1978, the American Can Company of Greenwich, Conn., offered a comprehensive program of benefits to its employees. It provided vacation time, a retirement plan, disability pay, and medical, dental and life insurance - the works. But Ellen Devey, a systems programmer at the company's headquarters, was not impressed. ''I was already covered by my husband's medical program,'' she said. ''My plan was just a waste of money.'' Like the employees of many companies, Mrs. Devey said she had never considered how much her benefits were worth. All she knew was that they did not suit the needs of her family.