Between 1975 and the 1990s, the percentage of low-wage employees in its total work force grew from 17 to 40 percent. If local UAW officers interviewed by the World are any indication, the strike at Dayton may not be the last as the UAW and GM jockey for advantage in this year's round of contract talks. As president of UAW Local 22, Ray Church represents some 3,100 workers who build Cadillacs. It is not just their battle. Church said the battle was against downsizing which is going on everywhere.
Workers are stakeholders and are as important as stockholders.
Stockholders have only invested their money while workers have invested their lives. They have as much right to a return on that investment as stockholders have on theirs. We don't necessarily have to wait until the contract expires on Sept. 15 to deal with them, either. In a sense, GM has been hoisted on its own petard in its search for efficiency and cost cutting. The result has been an increase in the UAW's power.