UAW may picket dealerships as part of broader effort

UAW may picket dealerships as part of broader effort

The UAW has announced plans to picket dealerships as part of an overall effort to try to unionize foreign auto assembly plants in the U.S. The unions plan may include informational picketing, at selected automobile dealerships.

While no such picketing has occurred as yet, dealers are advised to contact their attorney or outside labor counsel to determine what steps they should take to protect themselves and their customers should picketers show up on or near their dealership. This is because the general rules under the National Labor Relations Act governing handbilling and picketing tend to be very fact-specific and counter intuitive.

In response to press inquiries, NADA has provided the following statement on this effort:

While details of the UAW’s ‘dealership campaign’ are not public, the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) would have serious concerns about any efforts that interfere with the car buying process or frustrate customer satisfaction at dealerships. Attempting to disrupt new-car sales by targeting small businesses whose employees and families are dependent on those sales could create a public backlash and be counterproductive for the entire industry. NADA represents nearly 16,000 new car and truck dealerships, both domestic and international, employing almost 1 million people.”

WANADA dealer members who become aware of any picketing incidents are asked to call Jake Kelderman at 202-237-7200 or jak@wanada.org.