Collective bargaining

Ballot counting is underway in a runoff election to decide who will lead the powerful United Auto Workers union as its president. But the historic election is already transforming the union’s leadership in ways that could bring an end to decades of declining blue-collar compensation in this key sector of the economy. This was the first direct leadership election in the UAW’s 88-year history, following a series of corruption scandals that sent two former presidents to prison. With most of the other leadership races already determined, it’s clear that the union’s leadership will be closely divided between the old guard and the challengers. This transformation of how the UAW is governed sets up what is widely expected to be a more adversarial relationship between the union and the Big Three domestic car producers. Regardless of who wins the presidency, a more combative stance with automakers is likely to result in more strikes, higher car prices and also gre...