The UAW has gone on strike against GM, the first strike in ten years.

The hangup seems to be health care benefits for retirees and “job security” for active employees. This has been an ongoing battle over the same issues for over twenty years.

As a former officer of a local union who has been on strike too many times I can tell you this is a losing proposition for the company and the employees.

In the end a compromise will be reached that will satisfy neither side, and both the company and the workers will suffer economically, though I believe strikers’ benefits for UAW are much better than they were in my union.

It’s fun for the first week, but when negotiations drag on it starts to get on your nerves to the point you worry all the time.

In our case we lost our benefits after 30 days out so the union always settled within that 30 days for the same basic offer that was on the table when they walked out. Maybe the UAW has the funds to pay benefits to the strikers.

When the strikers return to work their first check most likely will have union dues taken out effective the first day they went out, which means a check for a very small amount. I once had a check for less than a dollar and kept it just to mess up the company’s bookkeeping system.

Unions have priced our companies out of business, or close to it.

Although I was once pro-union, I see no benefit in belonging to one now.