The Strike Is O’er, the Battle Done

The editors of the Wall Street Journal say that the only winners in the recently settled GM strike are the union leaders:

Remind us again why the United Auto Workers went on strike for five weeks against General Motors ? The terms of the tentative deal struck this week show that the union made itself look relevant at the cost of lost wages and perhaps future profit-sharing for workers.

UAW leaders this week agreed to a new four-year labor contract with GM, though 46,000 workers won’t return to work unless they ratify the deal by next Friday. Most will have lost more in pay during the strike than they appear to have gained in the new contract.

The company itself, too, has lost:

By some estimates the strike has cost GM $2.5 billion in profit, which will reduce the annual profit-sharing bonuses that go to workers. While the labor deal includes an $11,000 per worker ratification bonus—$3,000 more than what GM originally offered—we calculate that workers lost between roughly $5,100 to $8,200 in pay during the strike, based on their hourly wage rate.

All of this sounds terribly familiar to me. It reminds me of G. K. Chesterton’s wisecrack, “It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged.” Obviously, politicians aren’t the only ones.