The United Auto Workers’ Aggressive Bargaining Tactics: A Strategy for Success
Introduction
Unions may resort to negotiation tactics intended to pressure the management of organizations where they work to accept the terms and conditions that union members demand. The most common practices include strikes, boycotts, and pickets. In the case of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, the group has been highly decisive about setting the objective of bargaining for increased compensation and better benefits in new contracts (Masters, 2023).
The United Auto Workers’ Collective Bargaining of 2019
Organizations such as Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors are the main targets of the bargaining and negotiations. In particular, the AUW caused distress at the companies through a strike that started a minute after the expiration of the prior contract. Therefore, the UAW has a robust negotiation and bargaining strategy with its ‘bosses’ to reach its objectives consistently.
The union has been engaging in comprehensive negotiation practices characterized by a three-part strategy. For example, the General Motors labor force strike 2019 illustrates that the union could no longer withstand dealing with insufficient benefits, job insecurity, and underpay (Sherman, 2023). On September 14, 2019, the walkout started after the expiration of the labor contracts and the three companies as a way to battle against economic injustice that persisted in the workplace (Sherman, 2023).
The leader of the union, Shawn Fain, has openly publicized the UAW’s demands since the very initiation of formal talks. Specifically, he argued strongly that the automotive manufacturers’ record profits meant that the workers deserved record contracts that would make up for the past overworking, low pay, and insufficient benefits. With the support of such a leader, UAW could focus on its vision and go beyond its means to achieve it.
Another characteristic of the collective bargaining and negotiation tactics is the unilateral change of the bargaining process overall, beginning from its optics. For instance, the UAW started bargaining for multiple factories simultaneously, which caused companies to pit themselves against one another, thus putting more pressure on them to comply with the demands. The expansion of picket lines based on the progress in the negation process or its lack has caused automakers to be more attentive to picketers’ demands.
The pressure had consistently increased when deadlines were rolling in, and it was logical for UAW to announce additional sites of strikes. Such a strategy made companies make concessions while the union did not have to take any steps back. What sets UAW apart from other union organizations is that it has abandoned the traditional approaches to negotiation, whether collaborative or adversarial, focusing on brutal bargaining tactics. These tactics have included reputational attacks on corporate leaders, extreme demands, rolling deadlines, warnings, surprise strikes, and others (Masters, 2023). The union’s demands have been audacious but compelling both short- and long-term.
Conclusion
To conclude, the UAW’s success has been attributed to the union’s ability to catch companies at the most uncomfortable times, thus causing them to loosen their grip and inevitably make concessions to raise the pay of the lowest-paid workers. Even though gaps remain between what the union demands and what companies can offer, the consistency and persistence of the union’s efforts suggest that it is likely to take small steps toward success.
References
Sherman, N. (2023). UAW strike: Why are US car workers walking out? BBC. Web.
Masters, M. (2023). Why the UAW union’s tough bargaining strategy is working. The Conversation. Web.