Negotiators for the United Auto Workers union and Detroit's Big Three automakers labored into the night Wednesday in a bid to avoid production disruptions and clinch their first labor agreement since the $80 billion government bailouts of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler two years ago.
The head of General Motors Co.'s North American operations believes new contract talks with the United Auto Workers will be different from the contentious bargaining of the past.
United Auto Workers (UAW) President Bob King recently pledged $60 million of his union's money to pressure foreign automakers into unionizing their employees. He has acknowledged that the UAW is in trouble and its very survival is at stake. At a recent conference in Washington, he said, "If we don't organize these transnationals, I don't think there's a long-term future for the UAW - I really don't."
General Motors Co.'s recent stock offering was staged to start paying back the government for its $50 billion bailout, but one group made out much better than the taxpayers or other investors: the company's union.
