‘Us vs. them’ not right tack for UAW

TO THE EDITOR:

As someone who once worked on the assembly line of a nonunion manufacturing plant, I’m very pro-union. But the UAW’s stance has been all wrong — they asked for way too much, offered nothing in return and acted very militant. This “us against them” mentality is the big reason why the UAW’s membership has fallen so much in the past few decades.

We don’t have to look as far back as Studebaker, which had a very militant local that essentially drove the company out of business. 

Just look at the International Harvester strike of 1979-80. It lasted 172 days. The union’s hard stance — “us vs. them” again — cost the company thousands of truck sales. And you know what? International Harvester never recovered. Yes, they went back to work, but the sales volume never fully recovered, and the company went into a long decline that ended with Volkswagen eventually taking them over. 

Many thousands of workers lost their jobs and a once-great American company became a minor division of a foreign company. 

For American companies to compete with foreign companies, we need a spirit of cooperation, i.e., we’re all in this together. UAW workers deserve a raise, sure, but 40 percent plus fewer hours, one less day, etc., etc., etc.? 

I hope they don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. 

PATRICK FOSTER, Milford, Conn.
The writer is an author of books on the automotive industry.