UAW membership drops below 500,000 [View All]

[DainBramaged]

United Auto Workers union membership has fallen below 500,000 for the first time since World War II, reflecting the massive restructuring undertaken by Detroit's automakers.

The union reported Friday in a filing with the Labor Department that it had 464,910 members by the end of 2007, compared with 538,448 at the end of 2006. UAW membership peaked in 1979 at 1.5 million but has been dropping ever since.

Mike Smith, director of the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University in Detroit, said the last time the UAW had fewer than 500,000 members was in 1941. By 1945, UAW membership had surpassed one million.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC and their suppliers have cut tens of thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs in the last few years as foreign competition and a weak economy have slowed U.S. auto sales.

All three automakers are currently offering buyouts to their UAW-represented hourly workers. In 2006, more than 67,000 hourly workers took buyouts to leave GM and Ford. Chrysler has said it is trying to cut 21,000 of its 45,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs by 2009.

Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley who specializes in labor issues, said the UAW has "stopped the bleeding in terms of job losses" and is looking to rebuild.

The union's attempts at organizing North American plants run by Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and other Asian and European automakers have been unsuccessful. "The foreign-owned automakers are still in their sights. None of this is going to be easy, but by the same token I wouldn't write the union off," Shaiken said.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/UAW_membership_drops_below_500_000_03292008.html

Yup, keep losing those manufacturing jobs America, and accept Third world wages and tax breaks to bring more Foreign competition here while denying US a foothold in their countries.