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Once upon a time it was said that "What's good for General Motors is good for the country."  However, as General Motors, Chrylser and Ford (otherwise known as the Big Three) have lost market share over the last few decades, the question has become of late:  How much longer will the Big Three survive?

When the United Auto Workers first unionized the Detroit car makers in the 1930s and 40s, it is was widely believed that the UAW had helped to create a standard of living for its members. 

The problem for the UAW and the Big Three, (like the Steel industry before it) is that the union itself may have ultimately driven those companies to ruin. [Read more here.]

While many commentators have focused on the "high price" of UAW labor, there has been little focus on the institution of the UAW itself and its pattern of "pattern bargaining."

Pattern bargaining is where a union insists upon a contract that mirrors what the union has negotiated at an employer's rival.

For years, the UAW's practice was to target one of the Big Three auto makers as the "lead" company to negotiate against.

Whether the negotiations resulted in a short strike, a long strike, or no strike at all, the UAW would then use whatever the contract that was negotiated at its lead company to use as the "pattern" for the remaining two auto companies.

Part of this pattern of "pattern bargaining" was developed over decades.  However, the UAW's own union constitution appears to demand this sort of style of negotiating.  In fact, Article 19, Section 6 of the UAW's constitution states:

The International Executive Board shall protect all Local Unions who have succeeded in establishing higher wages and favorable conditions and have superior agreements. so that no infringement by Local Unions with inferior agreements in workplaces doing similar work may be committed against the Local Union with advanced agreements.

For more information about the UAW's constitution, go here.

Of course, from the union's perspective, it doesn't want its locals undercutting other locals, whether its in wages or work rules. 

However, not all companies are the same.  Companies' customers have different demands and, very often, the ability to attract customers often depends on a company's ability to adapt quickly to the marketplace.  If a union hinders companies' ability to adapt, very often those companies will lose marketshare and, ultimately, it is the unionized workers who lose.