In every contract I ever worked under, he main issue in negotiations was jobs. Primarily because of outsourcing.
The shop stewards are the people who file the grievances and fight for the rights of the workers under the contract. They work long hours AFTER the regular work day preparing and researching their cases. Their pay is usually the return of their union dues which doesn't amount to much; less than a dollar an hour on average.
They tend, as a general rule, to be
VERY dedicated to the welfare and rights of the worker and I am proud that I was one of their number.
Since I was in a right-to-work state, I had to defend EVERYONE on the workroom floor, not just the union members.
I am well aware that the dollar does not have the buying power that it had 25 years ago, but to blane it all on the CEO's is a little naive. There is much blame to be had on both sides of the table and labor needs to clean up it's own stable and curb it's own excesses before it can go after managment.
After all, the corporations wouldn't be making SUV's etc if SOMEONE wasn't buying them. There's plenty of blame to go around.

troll