Legally, the union can promise anything and everything–even things they know they cannot deliver.
Here are some important UAW Myths and the Facts:
MYTH: The UAW can guarantee improvements in pay and working conditions.
FACT: Nothing that union organizers promise is legally enforceable. Collective bargaining is a gamble; your terms and conditions of employment could get worse, better, or stay the same.
MYTH: A union contract can guarantee job security.
FACT: Job security comes from the ability of a company to make a quality product at a competitive price that people want to pay and comes from a customer’s ability to rely on the Company to serve the customer’s needs.
MYTH: A union will protect Team Members’ seniority, guarantee easier jobs for those with the most seniority, and protect senior members from layoff.
FACT: A union-mandated seniority system could benefit a very small percentage of the workforce but could disadvantage a larger majority.
For starters, the UAW cannot guarantee anything as it relates to benefits for seniority–everything is subject to collective bargaining.
Plus, HMMA already takes seniority into account when awarding transfers and many job assignments.
Going to a union-style system would only reward mediocrity by removing any incentive to excel. And as for layoffs, we’ve never experienced any in the entire history of the plant.