I dont understand how people can blame the union’s for ther big three’s problems. It was management that agreed to those contracts in the first place. They are horribly run companies in general. Also lets not forget that they make sh*t cars.
I dont think anyone was blaming unions for the big three’s problems. The fact that management agreed to these contracts cannot be held against them. Management likely agreed to avoid union retaliation via strike. Its not likley that this study will ever be undertaken, but I would be willing to bet that if unions were not involved with the auto industry, employment expenses would be significantly less (lower, more realistic wages and pension costs) and quality would stay the same or improve as workers would be more motivated. It is a general feeling of mine that unions cause workers to become complacent. I live in NYC and cant stand MTA (just thought i would let you all know).
>Management likely agreed to avoid union retaliation via strike Isn’t that the point? If you cave in to the union every time they threaten a strike, you encourage them to make unreasonable demands. In the end, it’s either resolved by the company going bust (likely), the union agreeing to cuts (unlikely) or an actual strike where the management doesn’t blink, which breaks the union (alla UK Coal industry in the 80’s). Strikes hurt the company in the short term, but in the long term, they hurt the workers more, as they end up with no job.