The UAW's Southern Gamble: Organizing Workers at Foreign-Owned Vehicle Plants

by Stephen J. Silvia

Overview

The UAW's Southern Gamble is the first in-depth assessment of the United Auto Workers' efforts to organize foreign vehicle plants (Daimler-Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Volkswagen) in the American South since 1989, an era when union membership declined precipitously. Stephen J. Silvia chronicles transnational union cooperation between the UAW and its counterparts in Brazil, France, Germany, and Japan and documents the development of employer strategies that have proven increasingly effective at thwarting unionization.

Silvia shows that when organizing, unions must now fight on three fronts: at the worksite; in the corporate boardroom; and in the political realm. The UAW's Southern Gamble makes clear that the UAW's failed campaigns in the South can teach hard-won lessons about challenging the structural and legal roadblocks to union participation and effectively organizing workers within and beyond the auto industry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501769719
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	05/15/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	348
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Stephen J. Silvia is a Professor at American University's School of International Service, where he teaches international economics, international trade relations, and comparative politics. He is the author of Holding the Shop Together.

What People are Saying About This

Harry C. Katz

An absolutely superb book. Stephen J. Silvia offers a wealth of insights based on original evidence about the difficulties unions face in organizing in the U.S. and the complex, evolving strategies adopted by UAW leaders and management. Experts on labor relations in the auto industry and beyond will learn an enormous amount from The UAW's Southern Gamble.

A. J. Jacobs

Clearly written, accessible, and informative, The UAW's Southern Gamble is unique in investigating precisely how the United Auto Workers undertook a $100 million multi-plant campaign, engaged with employee representatives across the globe, and embraced innovations in both policy and practice—but still failed to secure collective bargaining agreements at foreign-owned vehicle assembly plants in the American South.