GM Strike Is the Right Idea in the Wrong Place
A better target for organized labor is the vast U.S. services sector, which is less vulnerable to overseas competition.
A risk of losing while winning.
Photographer: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images North AmericaThe United Auto Workers union has gone on strike against General Motors Co., demanding much higher pay, more benefits, more job security and a greater share of profits. One analysis suggested that the work stoppage could cost the auto manufacturer $50 million a day in lost earnings. But there might be another, bigger cost for GM and its workers if the strike drags on.
On the positive side, the GM work stoppage, the first in 12 years, has the potential to help revitalize a moribund U.S. labor movement. In recent years there has been a spate of strikes in the country, but they look small in historical context: