i tried to write this up in a big long post yesterday. I think this says it much quicker
The problem is not the UAW or unions at all, the problem was that the Big 3 management adopted much of the Union’s view of the Employer/Employee relationship following WWII.
The Big 3, after WWII, was about lifetime employment and security, for both white collar and blue collar. The auto executives saw how well the idea worked creating a wealthy community with good schools and good services (detroit, flint, etc) and decided to offer a great job in return for labor peace. When the bottom fell out in the 1980’s they tried to slice jobs, humanely, trying to protect their workers from the devastation seen in the steel industry. Well unfortunately that’s continued until the last couple years when they’ve finally cut back on their long term pension liablities to the union.
The Big 3 management didn’t fight the UAW over the important issues back in the 1980s when the changes should have taken place while the Japanese were in a “voluntary” import quota. That’s why there is a “union” problem at the Big 3.