Business

Abstract
This paper discusses the current issues facing the US automobile industry and the emerging competition from foreign brands both imported and manufactured by foreign producers in American soil, particularly the Japanese. The paper further elucidates the role played by United Auto Workers Union (UAW) in employment security as well as making concessions on past rigid stands. It comments on the proactive role which the UAW can play for the better prospects of the employees as well as the future of the automobile industry in the US.

The US automobile industry has been the largest producer and employer in the world in the auto sector. In fact, the automobile industry in the US during good times in the past employed more than a million employees in manufacturing, assembling, automobile plants and equipment manufacturing and spare parts and supplies. Among the forefront in the manufacturing arena were the big three namely the General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. This was the scenario in the early 1970s and by 2003, most of the cars produced and sold in the US market were either imported or manufactured by foreign based producers. Although the Big Three as the large US auto companies are called dominate in light trucks they too are being challenged by foreign brands mainly from Japan and Germany. This along with the US automobile industrys inability to produce fuel efficient hybrid vehicles and slow in reducing carbon emissions made matters worse for the industry as a whole. Here, the Japanese and German industries were well positioned in this respect and cut into the market base of the US vehicle manufacturers. This was further aggravated by the recent slow down in the economy and the UAW which had played a powerful and pivotal role saw a drastic reduction of its members from 1.5 million to less than 700,000.

Part Played by UAW
The active part played by UAW during the boom time was the principle reason for it being one of the worlds largest and most powerful labor unions. It was directly instrumental in increasing the salaries of the automobile workers which made the automobile industry in the US one of the best paid in all industries. UAW came into existence in 1936 after it became one of the pivotal unions in the new committee for industrial organization in US. However, with the US automobile facing a series of problems in production as well as cost of labor it soon became incompetent with those of Japanese and German automobile manufacturers. The Japanese were the more vigorous competitors and were controlling a sizeable part of the US vehicle market. This was mainly due to their better production techniques along with their own unique labor standards. The UAW has since woken up and has been making more adjustments as well as concessions quite contrary to its earlier policies and militant past. The UAW was also trying to reform itself with strong criticisms levied against it both from the public and the media. It was being seen as a destroyer of automobile industry rather than allowing the workers keep their job permanently. Further, the recession had already taken its toll of the US vehicle demand and with the environmental issues pressing against it the UAW has presently braised itself up for new challenges. At the UAW 30th constitutional convention Teruhito Tokumoto, President of the Confederation of Japanese Auto Workers, has asked its members to support UAW efforts to organize transplanted factories and to set global standards of work rules (Guzda, 1992). This shows the high regard the Japanese has for UAW contrary to the rumors that the Americans produce inferior products. The blame should rather be born by the management and the Government which always had a lackluster view earlier about the industry and its troubles. Besides, UAW has given a great deal of though to the basic labor relations within the union. For instance, it has started to retreat from strikes for simple reasons and had made certain legal and democratic guarantees to all grievances brought before it.
             
Again the UAW has to efface certain stigma attached to it due to its earlier militancy and must strive to be a more proactive force that takes into consideration both the genuine demands of the workers of the automobile industry as well bringing the industry onto the growth path. Its main emphasis like the Japanese companies should be on employment as well as increasing the quality and productivity at the plants. This has paved way for UAW for becoming part owners of both reconstructed General Motors and Chrysler. The UAW is getting 17.5 share and unsecured bonds for the new GM.
         
From the above it is quite certain that in the present scenario the UAW has to act more pragmatically even while organizing workers to its fold including the Japanese companies. For this it has to take up larger goal of keeping the interest of the industry and the workers on a sustainable basis.