Column: UAW's more open approach widens its influence

Chances are you've already formed an opinion about the negotiations between the Detroit 3 and the UAW, and the union's limited "stand up" strike to win new contracts. That opinion — to which you're certainly entitled — is not at issue.

Instead, what is different and noteworthy is just how deeply and quickly this round of UAW quadrennial contract discussions seems to have burrowed into the national zeitgeist, and what the long-term implications will be for the rest of the industry once all the dust is finally settled in and around Detroit.

It all seems different than before, and I think I know why.

Even before the previous contract expired and the first workers picked up a picket sign in the early hours of Sept. 15, the negotiations were already a hot topic almost everywhere I went, more so than I can ever recall. "Civilians" outside the industry were and are paying attention, debating the merits or lack thereof of each side's proposals in diners and bars across the country, over the phone and on social media.

In those private conversations, at least the ones I've overheard, the request for the 40-plus percent wage increase seems to elicit discussion of executive compensation. The union's request for a shorter workweek seems to drive debate about fairness and equity of sacrifice, especially during the pandemic, often involving personal experiences far away from vehicle assembly plants. And requests for restoring defined benefit pensions and "taking care of retirees" prompts talk about Social Security and the merits of 401(k) plans.

It's all unusually public and open to debate, and I'm pretty sure the driving — though not exclusive — reason is the UAW's new outwardly facing communications strategy.

For at least the last 40 years, the UAW's messaging has been focused inward, talking primarily to its own membership about one issue or another, with little concern or effort (outside the occasional political season) for what was happening in the outside world. That's not to say the union didn't participate in broader social movements; it did and does, frequently. But the UAW's leadership always seemed more worried about their own reelections and currying favor with their members than they did with engaging with the public or taking their fights to the court of public opinion.

Whatever else you may think of his strategies, UAW President Shawn Fain's embrace of social media to communicate directly with his members, in nearly real time, is an underappreciated departure from the union's past practices. And the fact that those messages are also shared openly and transparently with the public is giving many unrepresented workers nationwide their first authentic taste of what it's like to be a member of a union.

So how does this all play out? For the Detroit 3 and their 146,000 UAW-represented hourly employees, only time will tell. But I'm more curious about what the knock-on effects will be in places like Chattanooga; West Point, Ga.; and Vance, Ala., as well as in automotive supplier plants across the country.

If the UAW wins even a substantial portion of what it's asking for, and does so in this new open, transparent and aggressive way, will that be enough to impact potential future organizing drives in the South?

At the very least, it is likely to drive up wages there to keep pace with gains in Detroit. But could it also wash away the reputation of a culture of corruption that likely cost the UAW an organizing victory at VW's Chattanooga plant in 2019?

It's hard to say, of course. But the UAW is behaving differently and that is changing how it's seen — even far beyond its membership.