Those who argue that we now live in a 'post industrial' society assume that industrial workers no longer have a significant role to play in changing the world. But in March a group of auto workers who struck against General Motors proved just how false that assumption is. Within two weeks, a strike by 3,000 workers from tow brake factories in Dayton, Ohio forced General Motors to halt production at every single GM assembly plant in the US - 26 out of its 29 assembly plants overall.
With auto production at a standstill, GM had to close dozens of parts plants throughout the US, Canada and Mexico. All told, 177,000 GM workers were idled by the strike, making this the largest auto industry work stoppage since 1970. By March 22, when the 17 day strike ended, GM had lost an estimated $1 billion in pre-tax profits. As the New York Times pointed out, 'The strike's widespread effects have illustrated the continuing economic importance of the American auto industry, which exceeds that of many industries that have been receiving more attention lately. During the fourth quarter of last year, for example, the sales of GM were 19 times the sales of the Microsoft corporation. With GM production at a standstill, the effects reverberated throughout the economy as a whole. Estimates are that the work stoppage wiped out a third of US economic growth in the first quarter.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) hasn't called a national strike since 1970, when it struck for two months against General Motors. But this strike has helped auto workers begin to rebuild their confidence to struggle. Most of the striking workers were amazed at their own ability to cripple the world's largest auto company. 'We knew we could shut some plants down, but not like this,' said Joe Hasenjager, the local union president. 'I don't really believe it; I really had no idea the effect it would have,' union member George Heeter told reporters as he picketed the plant.
The strike was called over 'outsourcing' - management's cost-cutting practice of buying parts from cheaper, often non-union, supplier companies. GM has complained that Chrysler and Ford have a competitive edge because Chrysler buys 70 percent and Ford buys 50 percent of the parts for their vehicles from outside suppliers. GM, by comparison, currently outsources 30 percent - but management is determined to sharply raise this figure.
In the case of the Dayton strike, GM decided to buy brakes from the South Carolina factory of the German owned Robert Bosch GmbH. Because it is non-union and located in a fiercely anti-union Southern state, labour costs at the Bosch plant are only one third what they are for GM's union workforce in Dayton. But what began as a local dispute quickly took on the significance of a national face-off between management and labour. A group of so-called 'hawks' on the GM board of directors were determined to force a showdown to out forward a tough posture in preparation for national negotiations with the auto workers union whose contract with the Big Three automakers is set to expire on September 14. To further antagonise the union, GM management tried with mixed success to convince state governments to deny unemployment benefits to workers who were out of work because of the strike. Wall Street investors praised GM for confronting the UAW. Stephen Roach, one of GM's investment bankers, argued that GM was right to draw the line with the UAW. 'We're at a critical turning point between labour and [shareholders],' he told the Wall Street Journal. And referring to the upcoming national UAW contract, he said, 'This is just a skirmish for the main event.' GM stock prices rose throughout most of the strike even though they were losing money.
But even if the Dayton workers were somewhat surprised by management's tenacity, they were ready for a prolonged strike if necessary. They are completely unsympathetic to GM's claimed need to slash its costs, since last year GM posted record profits of $6.9 billion. Moreover since 1992 productivity has soared by 35 percent while labour costs per car have been slashed by 13 percent. GM has shrunk its payroll by 100,000 jobs in the last decade. Even during peak productivity periods GM hasn't hired because it is cheaper to force workers to work overtime than to hire new workers.
The average age of the workers at the two struck Dayton plants is 50 years old. Yet last October management lengthened their working day from eight to ten hours, seven days per week. They worked every day last fall, including thanksgiving Day - which is a major national holiday. The average yearly wage of the Dayton workers is $69,000, including overtime pay. But in exchange, management expects them to sacrifice their health and safety.
At the time of the strike, the UAW had 600 outstanding health And safety complaints at the two Dayton plants. As Gary Johnson, who has worked at GM for 30 years, explained, 'We're the ones who have to put up with the fatigue, the repetitive-stress problems and lack of ventilation. A decent living wage is the least these corporations can do.'
Within a week of the strike, the Wall Street Journal warned it was spreading and 'spinning out of control'. As one after another GM assembly plant shut down, management's resolve began to waver. GM finally began to negotiate in earnest, after it was forced to close the plants which assemble its most profitable sports utility vehicles (with gross profits as high as $10,000 per vehicle). The final agreement ended in compromise on both sides. The UAW won 300 new jobs at the struck factories, a cash payment of $5.6 million to workers (nearly $1,600 each) because GM violated the national contract, $6.5 million to settle safety grievances and reductions in forced overtime. But GM can continue to buy parts from non-union companies, which leaves the key issue unsettled.
The real showdown is yet to come. What this strike showed is that both sides are hardening. Since last fall, dozens of local unions have been seeking the UAW's approval to strike. But the top officials of the UAW have done everything possible to contain struggles, authorising strikes only very selectively. UAW President Steve Yorich said recently, 'We're not strike happy.' Nevertheless, on April 15, all 1,800 workers from the dayshift at GM's Lordstown, Ohio, plant walked off the job to protest the firing of the local bargaining committee chairman. The UAW refused to sanction the strike and ordered union members back to work. But a day later the company still had to get a court injunction to order the workers back to the job. Whether the union calls a strike around the upcoming national contract or not, this shows that auto workers' anger is ever closer to the boiling point.