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Chrysler bit the bullet and the UAW got about 55% of the ownership; bond holders got stiffed. General Motors is about to bite the bullet and the UAW will get about 20% ownership.
There has been speculation that the UAW would use its ownership position to squeeze excessive money or benefits from those companies. But the reality is that such an action would put the UAW's investment in jeopardy by making Chrysler and GM less competitive. But what's to stop the UAW workers at Ford who have no such ownership arrangement from taking actions to undermine that company with a tacit agreement that any Ford losses of jobs will be offset by hires at Chrysler and GM?
Not that I really think that the UAW would ever do anything untoward, but you do have the unusual situation of a union owning the competitors of a company for which they work. How would that work anyplace else?
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