The split of the United Automobile Workers union and the study of bureaucratic organization

This thesis examines the historical development of the bureaucratic structure of the United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers International Union (UAW) and its relationship with its Canadian arm. In doing so, particular emphasis is placed on the manner in which the American union bureaucracy exercised dominance and control over the Canadian sector of the UAW. The majority of the working class, in a condition of bureaucratic control, will always be under the dominance of a small minority of leaders.;The analytical framework used in this work is constructed around an understanding of industrial trade unions as a social force that purports to social change. These social forces are concerned with the conditions of the workplace, the political, economic and external conditions in which the trade unions operate. When pursuing a certain course of action, the success of the objectives is determined by the state of the economy, the political climate, and by the internal resources and dynamics of the trade union.;Before the 1980's, the UAW International union had conducted industry-wide negotiations under the traditional method of pattern bargaining. Pattern bargaining for the total industry was in the hands of the International officers. At the turn of the decade the flood-gates were opened and the union leadership deviated away from the traditional system of pattern bargaining and negotiated "give-backs" to the corporations. This phenomenon that had lain dormant for many years, concessionary bargaining, would have a direct effect on the workers' standard of living and morale. Further, it would strain relations between the UAW American union leadership and the Canadian leadership. This would be evident in the constraints put on the Canadian leadership in their ability to pursue strategic collective bargaining issues that did not conform to the overall pattern of the American International union. The Canadian leadership resisted this type of control and began the discussions on the possibility of disenfranchising itself from the International union.