State of the (Mega) Union : Historic Merger Seen as Wise Move--but Big Obstacles Remain
The historic agreement to merge the auto workers, steelworkers and machinists unions has its roots in a little-noticed organizing battle at USAir last year.
The International Assn. of Machinists & Aerospace Workers was pitted against the United Steelworkers of America and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to represent fleet service and ground employees. The machinists union won.
But the bitter contest left a nagging question: With all their shared problems and common interests, why were the unions wasting money and other resources fighting each other? It was a subject that Steelworkers President George Becker took up in December with Machinists President George Kourpias during a dinner at an international union gathering in Switzerland.
“I wanted to meet the guy who beat us and get to know him better,” Becker said, adding that they soon became friends.
That friendship led to another dinner on July 19 with United Auto Workers President Stephen Yokich. Five minutes into that meal, the three union leaders had sketched out an agreement to merge their unions.
“I am so excited about [the merger] it almost brings tears to my eyes,” Becker said Thursday after the announcement.
Union leaders gathered here at a news conference to announce the merger, which would create the largest industrial union in America. Union leaders said the merger will be accomplished in phases during the next five years.
If the merger goes through, it will create a union with more than 2 million members in the auto, steel, rubber, air transport, aerospace and a number of other industries. However, some labor experts warned that the merger may never be completed because many obstacles remain to derail the massive deal.
Union officials and labor experts said the merger should bolster the union’s organizing, political and bargaining activities. The three unions said they will immediately take steps to coordinate activities in those areas as well as in legal, communications, education and training activities.
“This is really a healthy move,” said Barry Bluestone, a professor of political economics at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. “It rings the alarm and says, ‘It’s time to build a new labor movement.’ ”
The unions also said they hope the merger will serve as a model to encourage other labor groups to seek out partners. The AFL-CIO, the union umbrella group, represents about 80 labor unions. Consolidations could create more efficient labor organizations.
“Eighty unions in the AFL-CIO are too many,” Kourpias said.
The merger would affect the bargaining in some of the nation’s biggest manufacturing sectors and at some of the world’s largest, most powerful industrial companies, including auto maker General Motors Corp., steel producer USX Corp. and aviation giant Boeing Inc.
Spokesmen at those companies said the merger came as a surprise and that it was unclear what impact it might have on their labor relations.
“It’s all very new information to us, all unexpected,” said Tom Ferrall, spokesman for USX’s U.S. Steel Group. “We haven’t had a chance to see how it might impact us.”
However, union leaders are clearly excited by the merger proposal, which they said amounts to blazing a new trail for a workers’ movement crippled by a loss of membership and waning political and social clout.
Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at UC Berkeley, called the merger a bold step that holds out the possibility of significant changes by labor.
“In the short term, it creates a powerful mega-union,” he said. “But more important is that in the long term, this could be the beginning of some new approaches.”
The unions’ merger proposal follows the example of corporate America, particularly the manufacturing sector, which has been consolidating for several years in an effort to become more efficient and productive.
Those who doubt that the deal will be completed say the unions have different cultures and structures and that there may be internal resistance on the district levels.
“A lot of oxen will be gored,” said William Kilberg, managing partner for the Gibson Dunn & Crutcher law firm in Washington and a former solicitor general for the Labor Department during the Gerald Ford Administration. “It will be difficult to achieve.”
One possible sticking point is who will be in charge of the new organization, but that issue may be moot because all three union leaders are likely to be retired by the time the merger is completed in 2000.
“The issue here is not who will lead the union--none of the current leaders will--but rather the legacy those leaders will leave behind,” Shaiken said.
The merger was welcomed by some local leaders. “It’s been long overdue,” said Dave Yettaw, president of UAW Local 599 in Flint, Mich., and a longtime leader in a dissident union movement. “It should help in efforts to organize more workers.”
By pooling resources, the new union hopes to be more effective in recruiting new members. Likely targets are foreign-owned auto plants, non-union parts suppliers and new steel mills, many of them in the South.
Just as important, the new union hopes to flex more political muscle.
“There is something to be said for sheer size,” said Douglas Fraser, a former UAW president and now a labor professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. “The numbers mean they will be able to impress legislators more.”
The merger is also a major statement that top union leaders recognize labor is in deep trouble and that they are willing to take some risks to forge a new direction.
“This is a solid attempt by the leadership to reinvent the trade union movement and make it a major force again,” Bluestone said.
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Nauss reported from Detroit and Rosenblatt from Washington.
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Seeking Unity
Unions have watched their membership, and with it their political clout, fall in recent years. Officials hope this week’s merger of the United Auto Workers, United Steelworkers of America and the International Assn. of Machinists & Aerospace Workers will help them regain power in the workplace.
LESS OF A FORCE
Although union membership has remained relatively flat since the early 1980s, the work force as a whole has increased by almost 20%, so the percentage of workers represented by unions has dropped.
Union Employees, in millions:
1994: 16.7
Union members as a percentage of work force:
1994: 15.5%
BIGGEST UNIONS
The three unions involved in the proposed merger are among the top 10 unions in the nation:
Union / Members National Education Assn.: 1.8 million International Brotherhood of Teamsters: 1.4 million United Food & Commercial Workers: 1.4 million American Federation of State, County, Municipal Employees: 1.2 million International Union of Service Employees: 1.1 million American Federation of Teachers: 852,200 United Auto Workers: 826,236 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers: 800,000 United Steelworkers of America: 700,000 International Assn. of Machinists & Aerospace Workers: 492,000
UNITED AUTO WORKERS
Membership * Current: 826,236 * Peak: 1.53 million in 1969 * Recent low: 750,436 in 1993 * Industries it represents: Motor vehicle parts, motor vehicle assembly, independent parts, aerospace, farm implements, public employees * Union wage: For an hourly assembler working for a Big Three auto maker: $18.44
UNITED STEELWORKERS
Membership * Current: 700,000 * Peak: 1.2 million, in 1981 * Recent low: 540,000, in 1983 * Industries it represents: Steel, rubber, plastic, chemicals, nickel, copper and aluminum refining, health care. Members in the manufacturing sector make products ranging from Louisville Slugger baseball bats to M-1 tanks. * Union wage: Ranges from the minimum wage at some companies where the union has yet to negotiate a contract to $15 to $16 an hour
MACHINISTS UNION
Membership * Current: 492,000 * Peak: Just over 1 million, in 1973 * Recent low: Current level * Industries it represents: Ground crews for airlines, production workers in aerospace, shipbuilding, machine shops, auto parts, wood products, tool and die makers, clerical workers and municipal employees * Union wage: Averages $15 an hour unionwide, but a skilled machinist or mechanic can average $20 to $23
Sources: Labor Department, Associated Press
Researched by JENNIFER OLDHAM / Los Angeles Times
