A Living Wage: No Longer on the Auto Industry’s Agenda - by Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes
Some auto workers have been asking for years: Why don’t the Big Three try to bust the UAW? The union’s weakness, the unwillingness of its leaders to inspire and rally the troops, have been evident for 20 years.
The only answer seemed to be (1) The union played a role in keeping workers in line, by enforcing attendance programs, for example. (2) Management knew that the union still held great potential power, if members and leaders cared to use it. Workers called this potential “the sleeping giant.”
Another UAW employer, Caterpillar, walked up to the brink of union-busting when it hired scabs during two strikes in the 1990s, thus breaking the gentlemen’s agreement on orderly strikes. Big Three execs flew to Peoria to learn how to do it. But the UAW still has (increasingly lousy) contracts at Caterpillar.