Big news this morning in the auto industry: the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union has called a strike at General Motors (GM) factories after failing to reach a deal with management for new contracts. I have predicted for some time that a real, knock-down, drag-out war between the UAW and the American auto manufacturers was coming (for many of the reasons discussed in my Fixing the American Auto Industry piece). I hope this is it, and that GM doesn’t give-in. Fire the union workers and rehire on a case-by-case basis with individual contracts like most every other modern industry. This is GM’s opportunity to break the unions and free itself to grow and improve in reliability, sales, and profit—which will ultimately help it and its workers (and chart a course for Ford and Chrysler to follow later). Go for it!
Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.