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The UAW’s Game Changer: The Right to Strike Over Mass Layoffs
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 Nov. 14, 2023 | OPINION | The United Auto Workers has scored major victories in its new contracts with the Big Three automakers: GM, Ford, and Stellantis. Not only did the union win massive wage increases and other critical demands, but it also won the virtually unheard-of right to strike over plant closures. ... The auto industry was one of the first to institute mass layoffs as mismanagement and stiff competition from abroad in the 1970s cut into the Big Three’s market share. Until this recent UAW contract, unions mostly had been unable to stop mass layoffs. Instead, they only had the contractual right to conduct “effects bargaining,” negotiating to secure severance payments for the workers who would be let go. Even if they had wanted to strike, in most cases, it would have been prohibited by their contracts. The UAW has changed that game. Common Dreams
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