Motor Trends: Why The Most Profitable Cars Made in the U.S.A. are Japanese and German

(4 of 6)

But job classifications at transplant factories are broader. Line workers are trained in a variety of tasks--say, spot welding as well as interior assembly--and they rotate jobs frequently. They're less susceptible to boredom and repetitive-stress injuries. They're also trained to do preventive maintenance. At Toyota plants, every assembly-line worker has the authority to stop the line if he or she spots, say, a flaw in a windshield. More important, workers are encouraged by management to do so.

The long and often bitter relationship between the Big Three and the UAW means that their work practices are rooted not in mutual trust but in a system of sometimes picky rules. A "skilled tradesman" may be required to change a fuse in an assembly-line machine, a task that an assembly worker could easily be trained to perform. Work rules differ from plant to plant because agreements are negotiated with local union leaders. If a tradesman notices a line worker fiddling with equipment, he may file a grievance, claiming that his job is being undercut by a lower-paid employee.

A flexible work force is especially critical for maintaining line speed if the model mix changes frequently. After a switch, a worker who formerly needed two minutes to help install a wiring harness might need only 90 seconds, meaning he or she could do another job--if allowed. But at some Big Three plants, assigning a new task to a worker requires consulting the local union leader, who might approve the extra job but insist on a quid pro quo--say, extra break time. Such complications can make it more costly to adjust the vehicle mix--leading to unsold vehicles and requiring more profit-eating 0% financing.

Since the early 1980s, the UAW has mounted campaigns to organize the transplants' hourly workers, but they have consistently voted against joining, in part because of strong community support for the manufacturers and a sense of mutual loyalty. "Nissan takes care of its employees, and if the union tries to organize us, I'll probably oppose it," says Murphy Wilson, 27, a newly hired technician in Canton. The UAW has tried four times to win over Nissan's Smyrna work force but was voted down 2 to 1 in its last try in 2001. "We have not given up on the transnationals," says UAW president Ron Gettelfinger, who claims that "fear, intimidation and threats hold workers back" from inviting unions into transplant factories. In 2001 some organizers publicly accused Nissan managers of strong-arming employees in Smyrna.

In the next round of national labor negotiations this summer, the Big Three are expected to demand benefit cuts and broader job classifications. Griping has already begun. "They want us to do more and more and offer us less and less," says Bill Parker, president of UAW Local 1700 in Detroit and head of a Chrysler work force. In theory, Detroit could emulate the transplants and set up nonunionized shops in the South, but the UAW would probably bring assembly operations to a halt.

CLOSER TIES WITH SUPPLIERS