This UAW last show of force, Membership is at its lowest level in decades. Only formerly known as Big3 employ UAW. BIC Toyota, Tesla, Kia, Hyundai, Mercedes, VW, etc. do not hire UAW personnel. The writing has been on the wall for many decades now, UAW is bad business. UAW has not evolved with time, it used to be good for the workers, but as usual Power corrupts and now it is a shadow of what it was before. Sad ending for an organization that made a difference in the fairness of working on the floor. I predict a weakened UAW after the negotiations, losing headcount in the next 5 years as well as getting meager salary increase. UAW leader should protect their current members and sacrifice Tier 2's. Big3 may introduce more strict rules, so UAW is no longer a shield to protects lazy workers. One option would be keeping stagnant current UAW membership getting some bones in salary increase but allowing Big3 to hire no UAW in new plants. The argument that JF and Billy made a lot of money is an old one, Big3 can swap salary increases by given them Ford or GM or Stellantis Stock. UAW has no skin in the game they need to feel that their can protect their job by doing a better job.
Like the battle of El Alamein during WW2, this is the end of the beginning for UAW, unfortunately UAW is willing to bring to bankruptcy to Big3 than compromise and get a better position for current membership. They should hire Trump for advice in the Art of getting a Deal.