Are the UAW and Domestic Auto Industry Falling on Hard Times?

With all this talk about the UAW nationwide strike, I thought it fitting I bare witness to what I have been through, what I know, and in what direction I believe the auto industry is heading. I was a UAW Executive Committeeman for AP Parts, a Tier 1 parts plant, represented by Local 14. This Local resides within Region 2B, which covers Ohio UAW members. This Local was, at one time, one of the most powerful Locals in Region 2B. It represented one GM Plant and a multitude of Tier 1, and Tear 2 parts plants. Beginning in the late 70's, until today, this once powerful Local dwindled down to representing one GM plant (GM Toledo Powertrain).

I was one of the victims of the plant closing at AP Parts, the very last Tier 1 plant Local 14 represented. My friends and I lived through the drastic changes and the ripple effects that this closing created. Just who is to blame for all these closings, strikes, and realignments, is a complex issue with three major players. The Federal Government, the CEO's of the "Big Three," and the UAW. Each one of these three players are at fault and are to blame for the current predicament the Auto Industry is currently facing. I will attempt to break down where the Auto Industry is heading, as I see it. In any case it does not bode well for the UAW.

During the 60's and 70's the Auto industry was highly regionalized and nationalistic in nature. When I say this I mean, most of the production and consumption was by Americans, from raw material to finished product. It would start in the steel mills of Pennsylvania then on to the independent parts plants of the Mid West all the way up to the finished products coming out of Detroit. It was mined, processed, made, assembled by and then sold to Americans. Every party was protected within this system, the Government protected our markets from outsiders and was getting their share, the CEO's where getting theirs, and the UAW fought and struggled to get theirs. At this point in time, the parts plants and in particular the Tier 1 plants held most of the power in this paradigm (if we stuck the Big Three shut down) and the rest of the UAW workers slowly caught up to us, then surpassed us. Everyone was happy.

This was the golden age of the US Auto Industry. It seemed that every American had a car out of Detroit and the American marketplace was all we would ever need to sustain the circle of production and consumption. This, however, was to good to last. The eye's of the "Big Three" started to look at other markets, cheap labor and material around the world and they got dollar signs in their eyes. Hence, the birth of the global corporate goals of "Big Three."

The expansion into these global marketplaces would take some doing by the " Big Three." You see, all these other markets had their own closed systems of production and consumption. The "Big Three" would not be deterred however, and they began to make their power felt in Washington and abroad. Washington over the years started to relax trade barriers and demand that othes relax theirs. Washington and the big three fed us the lie that we would be safe in relaxing these barriers and told us that we could compete in any global market with no effect to our standard of living. They told the American people that the rest of the world would eventually come up to our standard of living in pay and working conditions.

The real goal however, was to lower our standard of living while taking advantage of natural resources and slave labor abroad. The only way this could be accomplished was by deregulation and global trade. All the while, the "Big Three" and the "Government" would still get more than their fair share. In this plan, the key component was the weakening and marginalization of the UAW. That goal has not been fully realized as of yet but make no mistake, when the UAW is no more the "Big Three" will be able to reap huge profits while suppressing the "American Worker."

Where does all this leave us as we speak? It leaves us (The American Union Worker) struggling for air like a gold fish who has leapt out of it's bowl. The American worker better wake up to the fact, as the UAW goes so goes our Nations Unions. Once they are gone we will all be at the mercy of Cold Multinational Corporations and their greed.

I will close this article by wishing my brothers in the UAW good luck in their strike. However, this strike means nothing in the big picture. Changes need to be made in our trade policies or the UAW will no longer exist as we now know it. Even though I am no longer a member of the UAW, I know their future is important to us all.