Despite parting ways during the '80s, the U.S. United Auto Workers and the Canadian Auto Workers remain "brothers." Still, with Canada on strike against General Motors Corp. for much of October, numerous GM-U.S. plants relying on Canadian components closed down. You don't make profits when plants are shut: The 17-day UAW strike at GM plants in Dayton, OH, last March cost the No. 1 automaker $900 million. Because the U.S. folks get profit-sharing based on GM's year-end results - and the Canadians do not - the October walkout makes it a pocketbook issue south of the border. "Those guys in Canada, who have nothing to lose, are screwing up whatever chance GM's U.S. workers had at profit-sharing" for 1996, Lehman Brothers Automotive Analyst Joeseph Philippi tells The Detroit News. GM's '95 payout averaged $800 per worker, well below Ford Motor Co.'s $1,700 and Chrysler Corp.'s $3,200. Pickings may be even slimmer when the pie is sliced early next year.
