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For U.S. Carmakers, the End of an Era
Tweet Share on Facebook October 3, 2007 CommentMy U.S. News column this week is on how the General Motors-United Auto Workers contract marks the end of an era. In it I quoted William Serrin's 1973 book, The Company and the Union. Serrin is critical, I think harshly critical, of the UAW for not asking enough from the company and for not seeking to improve working conditions. He assumed, as did just about everyone, that the structure of the auto industry would continue unchanged indefinitely; he did not take seriously the possibility that foreign companies would sell, as they do today, half the cars sold in the United States. But I was unable to find a particular quote that I wanted on this point in the hardcover edition of the book. Now I have the 1974 paperback edition, with a long epilogue. Here are the quotes, from Pages 310 and 311:
