Implications of just-in-time production for union strategy: Lessons from the 1998 General Motors-United Auto workers dispute

This paper analyzes the spatial and temporal dynamics of the 1998 General M otors-United Auto Workers dispute to examine what implications "lean" produ ction methods may have for organized labor. Whereas much writing on new for ms of production organization has tended to see such developments in "eithe r/or" terms-either as an attack on unions in the workplace, or as offering workers an opportunity for empowerment through teamwork and greater control over job content-in this paper, I argue that, under lean production the po wer relations between workers and employers are being refashioned in contra dictory ways at different geographic scales. Specifically, while lean produ ction may indeed represent an attack on workers' traditional ways of doing things at the scale of the shopfloor, the introduction of Just-in-Time prod uction methods as part of the "leaning" of capitalism may present new possi bilities at the scale of interplant relations for unions to exploit in thei r relationship with employers. In this paper, then, I seek to identify key moments in the GM-UAW dispute through an examination of its spatial and tem poral dynamics. Identifying such key moments provides insights into the cha nging landscape of union-employer relations. Based on these findings, I sug gest that near forms of production organization may require unions to trans form their modes of spatial organization and me geographical strategies tha t they have traditionally used.