Will UAW kill the Electric Goose?

 

Will UAW kill the Electric Goose?

 

Between 1972 and 2013 I worked in logistics, primarily purchasing transportation for manufacturers.

My career coincided with federal deregulation of transportation, particularly that of trucking and airlines. Deregulation inflicted a profound demise on unionized truck lines. Ease of entry enabled thousands of new non-union truck outfits to peel off their business, saving shippers billions in transportation costs. 

 

Prior to deregulation, unionized truck lines had a form of monopoly since gaining new trucking authority was highly restricted, in part from union truck lines’ lobbying to keep it restricted.

During my career Teamster membership in union shops declined from 2 million to under 100,000. Just this year, storied Yellow Freight, a combination of 2 giants Yellow and Roadway, closed down after 99 years. The Teamsters made numerous concessions to keep union truckers afloat but the differential between union and non-union was just too great for union trucking to remain viable. 

 

Sadly, we may be seeing a repeat of the Teamster experience with the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike against America’s Big 3: Ford, GM and Stellantis (Chrysler/Jeep). This is first time the UAW has struck all 3 at once. While wages and benefits remain priorities, job security over the transformation from gas to electric cars may be the most important issue prompting the strike. Forty-five days in, no settlement looms. 

 

It might be wise for the UAW to review the Teamster experience under deregulation. Like the Teamsters, the UAW has lost their monopoly when they once controlled virtually the entire market with unionized labor. Major competitors Tesla, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes are non-union, with resulting lower cost and staffing flexibility. That may not be fair…but it’s the new reality in the auto industry. 

 

Even worse, the UAW strike comes at a transformational moment in auto history as companies are racing to succeed in transitioning from gas to electric. Guess what? America’s Big 3 are already lagging behind their non-union competitors. They’ve collectively produced very few successful models. Tesla is not even in Big 3 headlight range. 

 

Even without the strike, Ford, GM and Stellantis will struggle to survive in the coming electric transformation. Being gobbled up by a non-union competitor is not out of the question.

The UAW may wish to rethink its strategy to protect and enhance its 150,000 auto workers. They may not be killing the Golden Goose, but may be short-circuiting the Electric Goose.