Here We Go Again: UAW To Put Focus On Organizing Foreign Automakers

After finishing contract negotiations with the big three, the UAW is turning it’s focus back onto president Bob King’s goal of organizing at least one non-union plant by the end of the year.

Foreign automakers have so far resisted the idea of unionizing. But the UAW believes they have a shot. King said to reporters on a conference call that the union has set aside $60 million to achieve their goal. The plan is for the UAW to have organizers at dealers hand out leaflets and other informational material, praising the benefits of union membership.

The UAW hasn’t said which automaker or automakers it will target, when the push will begin or what exactly it will involved. The one thing the union is pushing is the push will “not be a picket in any way,” said Mark Gevaar, president of UAW Local 2209 in Roanoke, Indiana, where member training for the campaign took place on November 19.

However the UAW’s track record with foreign automakers is poor. Toyota, VW, Honda, and Hyundai have all rejected the UAW before.

“The UAW has got a really tough chore in front of them to organize these plants.They probably are going to try every tactic they can. This is important, especially to Bob,” said Schwartz, a former GM labor negotiator.

Source: Bloomberg