GM workers have gone on strike. According to UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, the talks broke down over the issue of job security. Not being privy to the details of the negotiations, I don't know what changes GM wanted to make to the contract that would have made it easier for them to fire workers, but from what I've heard about workers in GM plants getting away with, GM needed some leeway here. I've heard stories of workers leaving work several hours early to go to a bar and having a co-worker punch them out at the appropriate time. Oftentimes it is so difficult and costly to fire workers who perform their jobs poorly that it is less costly to keep them on than to fire them and replace them with someone who will do the job well.
Now, it certainly reasonable for the UAW to protect its workers from arbitrary and/or unjust firing, but in order for GM to once again become the class of the automotive world, it must have the flexibility to ensure that it can hire the most effective and efficient workforce possible. The two must be balanced, and right now the scales are tilted heavily toward the UAW to the detriment of GM, its shareholders, its consumers, and its workers.
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