It’s amazing what you can do when a single plant strike costs in the neighborhood of $50 million/day. I’m a salaried worker at one of the Big 3, and even though we’re not union, we got some very nice bonuses out of this too. The 401k match, improved health insurance benefits, and raises all around.

I’ll be the first to complain about some of the more negative aspects of the UAW, but like anything else there are going to be people who abuse it, but it’s worth it for the huge benefits to everyone else in the industry.