Saturday, August 13, 2011
I was recently invited to speak to the annual management briefing conference sponsored in Michigan by the Center for Automotive Research, a fine outfit which does the best research work in the continent on auto employment, workers, and skills. My slides are available here.
My panel was addressing the current UAW negotiations with the Detroit Three automakers -- the first big contract talks since the meltdown and bailouts of 2009. I was diplomatic enough as a visitor to the U.S. not to make any direct comment on the UAW talks (the "host" union), but rather addressed the broader economic issue about the North American auto industry's painful recovery, and what role -- if any -- labour costs have played.
Labour costs were not the key problem in the Detroit Three's crisis. And cuts in labour costs have not been the key reason, or even a major reason, for the subsequent improvement in their performance.