By Elayne Matthews, www.carcarebuzz.com Contributor

Lately, the topic of unions and their importance have been in the news across the nation.  The strong emotions felt by both sides of the issue have resonated in the evening news, written word in newspapers, and internet blogs.  There seems to be a strong sense of urgency to maintain and grow the union force.  This is extremely evident in the auto industry that has decreased by large numbers over the last decade.  A recent Detroit Free Press report noted the decline; “Since 2007, the number of auto industry workers belonging to the union has plunged 46% to just 185,522 from more than 345,407.”  However, other sources have shown a 6% increase in UAW membership over the last year.

The evidence of this is becoming most noticeable in the southern states.  The foreign automakers have selected this area due to tax incentives and a strong workforce immune to the need of a union presence.  Union enrollment is non-existent and the workers seem to like and want it that way.  The push is on to invite these companies and their workers to join the union to help bring the enrollment numbers back to where they were in the years of the Detroit auto industry.  With the loss of the motor city employment, so goes the loss of union participants.  Job loss is the major contributor of the decrease in union membership, and union enrollment is not hand in hand with employment in the new southern state foreign auto industry growth.  Bob King, UAW President, is quoted in the Los Angeles Times and Detroit Free Press; “It is critically important for our membership to organize those facilities to keep the companies where we already represent workers competitive,” King said. “We need to make sure that companies compete on the basis of engineering, design, quality and innovation — not on who can pay their workers the least.” Union organizers have to wonder what effect low enrollment and lost enrollment will have on current members.

Will union leadership be able to turn the tide on this new generation of autoworkers?  Is this a sign of a possible change in how effective the UAW has become in this changing industry?  Maybe it would be wise to take a look at how foreign automakers have created dedicated employees in a non-union environment.  Are these workers simply happy to be employed and skeptical about joining a union; or feel that unions are outdated and are confident in their employers.  Has the UAW lost its edge with the new autoworker?  The UAW leadership might certainly argue that point.  Is the auto industry work environment changing into something new and different, or is this just an anomaly in certain parts of the country? We will likely see the answer unfold as the future develops.   The answer may come sooner than we think.

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