The UAW and the Big Three can turn America’s ‘Great Rebalancing’ into a win-win for both sides. Here’s how

The recent strike is just one swing of the pendulum in a long struggle. For decades, the unions were losing. Membership plummeted, and support waned.

It took decades for the union movement’s brand to recover, but recover it has. Last August, a Gallup poll found that 71% of Americans approve of unions, the highest percentage since 1965. The question for the UAW is: How can it extend its economic and perceptual win to keep the momentum going?

On the other side, how can the auto industry build a narrative around the concessions it just made?  This can begin the process of making the American public–especially the younger car buyers of the future– less ready to hate the auto industrial complex.

It will be a tough road ahead. Americans have always had a love-hate relationship with car companies–and that sentiment has not improved. 

Cost is one reason. As analysts have noted, new cars are for well-off people–and less affluent consumers have turned to the used car market or do not own cars. If you can’t afford the industry’s cars, then it’s hard to love the industry.

Despite that reality, during the strike, the auto industry’s response was an uninspiring combination of offense (attacking UAW leader Shawn Fain for challenging the unwritten labor rules) and argumentative defense.

Automakers need a jiu-jitsu move

Now that the UAW is about to ratify the deal, the industry should seize the moment and elevate the settlement to a declaration of how much it respects and honors auto workers–trade their predictable corporate bluster for an unexpectedly humane response.

Their messaging must focus on two key audiences: younger consumers, as well as people who already own their cars. Data shows that more than half of car owners would prefer to buy from the company they…