What Christians can learn from unions in General Motors from the 1980s.
A few months ago I produced two episodes about the Christian roots of American labor unions. And… a bunch of people stopped listening to the show. It turns out that many American Christians are conservative and, therefore, anti-union.
This mini-episode is the counterbalance to that series. Here we discuss the inefficient practices at General Motors in the 1980s. It was an era where GM slipped from holding over 40% of the market share to 17%. What happened? It’s a story of unions, gasoline, and the reasons we treat labor well.
Resources used:
- “Rude Awakening: The Rise Fall and Struggle for Recovery of General Motors” by Maryann Keller
- “Crash Course” by Paul Ingrassia
Discussion Questions:
- Do you have a bias for or against labor unions?
- Who do you know who is or was in a union? What is their work ethic?
- The labor unions in GM in the 1980s were inefficient. Does that make all labor unions inefficient?
- Does specialization in factories help or hurt in the long run?
- Do you have a bias for employers or employees?
- Do you work as unto Christ in your own job?
- What is the Christian way to work? To employ someone?
