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Striking for a Just Transition? North American Auto Unions and the Electric Vehicle Transition

Mathieu Dupuis et al.

Industrial Relations: a journal of economy and society2026https://doi.org/10.1111/irel.70024article
AJG 4ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

Decarbonization heightens risks for workers, but union strategies shape how these risks are managed and whether new jobs offer quality employment. This paper compares U.S. and Canadian auto unions during the 2023 Detroit Three bargaining, focusing on strategic capacities and internal politics to explain their divergent responses to the EV transition. Both unions emphasized a just transition and secured significant gains through the negotiations. However, the UAW's militancy emerged as a compensatory mechanism for weakened capacity, while Unifor's traditional approach stemmed from organizational resilience. We argue that understanding this counter‐intuitive relationship between capacity and militancy is critical to understanding cross‐national differences in labor's climate strategies.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/irel.70024

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@article{mathieu2026,
  title        = {{Striking for a Just Transition? North American Auto Unions and the Electric Vehicle Transition}},
  author       = {Mathieu Dupuis et al.},
  journal      = {Industrial Relations: a journal of economy and society},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/irel.70024},
}

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Striking for a Just Transition? North American Auto Unions and the Electric Vehicle Transition

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.