Now, in 2015, things are looking up for the industry and for the U.S. economy in general, and the UAW aims to have its duly workers compensated for this comeback as it meets in Detroit this week for the 2015 Special Bargaining Convention.
DETROIT, MI - Like all economic engines, the auto industry goes through cycles, and it's been through some pretty rough ones.
That was especially true near the end of the 2000s, as two of the Detroit Three automakers teetered on financial insolvency, and were poised to get aid from the U.S. federal government.
Now, in 2015, things are looking up for the industry and for the U.S. economy in general, and the UAW aims to have its workers duly compensated for this comeback as it meets in Detroit this week for the 2015 Special Bargaining Convention.
"Today our industries are the bedrock of a renewed economy," UAW President Dennis Williams said in opening remarks Tuesday at the Cobo Center.
The two-day Special Bargaining Convention will include the passage of a resolution that the UAW can take into negotiations with automakers this summer.
Some 900 delegates from more than 800 local unions were expected to attend the convention. The delegates represent more than 1,500 employers in auto, aerospace, agriculture, health care, public service, education and other sectors.
"What we collectively do over the next two days will set the overall canvas for all of our bargaining," Williams said.
U.S. Sec. of Labor Tom Perez was among several speakers at the event Tuesday, and like others, he noted the apparent rise of the nation's economy.
"We've had 60 month in a row of private sector job growth, to the tune of 12 million private sector jobs," Perez said.
That means the nation is now at a crucial crossroads, he said.
"Our country has never before needed your voice as much as we need your voice right now," Perez said.
The labor secretary emphasized the need for greater wage equality in the U.S. He applauded efforts made by the UAW in Chattanooga, Tenn., where it was able to successfully gain recognition last year. And he lauded an employee stock ownership plan by New Belgium Brewing Company founder Kim Jordan in Colorado.
"If Barry Goldwater was around, he might call her Sputnik," Perez said, referring to Cold War-era hysteria in the U.S. over Soviet communism. "I call her spunky."
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan also spoke earlier in the day, and touted the fact that he was able to work with the Obama administration on landing a $148 million lightweight materials institute in the city.
In discussing a final resolution that will be voted on Wednesday, several speakers from local unions voiced the need to eliminate the two-tier wage system in which "Tier 2" entry-level workers are compensated at nearly half the hourly rate of so-called "Tier 1" legacy workers.
"We got to not just bridge the gap, but eliminate the gap," said Mark Monroe of UAW Local 167 in Grand Rapids. "My plant is about 98 percent Tier 2," he said, adding "We've done our time, GM's making billions of dollars, and I think we need to enjoy those fruits as we make the products."
The tiered system was first implemented in the late 2000s as a way to boost hiring at automakers at a time when the Detroit Three were struggling.
Now, all three have been profitable for the past several years. In 2014, General Motors reported net income of $2.8 billion, down from $3.8 billion in 2013, but still marking the Detroit automaker's fifth straight year of profitability.
Ford Motor Co. also reported a fifth-straight year of bottom-line growth in 2014, with full-year net income of $3.2 billion, a drop from net profit of $7.2 billion in 2013.
FCA US, formerly Chrysler Group, reported a drop in net income to $1.2 billion for 2014, compared to a net profit of $2.8 billion in 2013.
The profitability of the automakers versus the argument that lower wages means more hiring could force some kind of compromise on the tiered system, with wages meeting somewhere between Tier 1 and Tier 2.
UAW contracts with the Detroit Three automakers expire in September. The negotiations, which occur every four years, begin this summer.
In 2014, the auto industry supported 532,000 jobs in Michigan, more than any other state in the U.S., according to the Center for Automotive Research. Ohio was second with 305,000 jobs.
David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter