Expect 1, maybe 2 UAW strikes in 2003

At least one United Auto Workers' strike is “inevitable” next year, says auto analyst James Hall of AutoPacific.

A UAW strike is usually targeted against one of the Big Three, leading to a new contract that the other auto companies take cues from in negotiating their own labor agreements.

But it will be different when existing contracts expire next year. Each of the Big Three has their own set of issues, says Hall.

“One size won't fit all this time,” says Hall. “That's why there may be two strikes. It's going to get nasty.”

A strike-induced new-car shortage in 2003 will spur the used-car market as “God's immutable law of supply and demand will be invoked,” says Hall.