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The term "natural selection" was introduced by Charles Darwin in his groundbreaking book The Origin of Species to describe how favorable traits become more common in successive generations and less favorable traits become less common. Adapt or perish. Windsor, the traditional auto capital of Canada, which built its economy on the Big Three, finds itself in a slow and steady economic slide as the auto industry changes and Asian, Korean and European car makers, which have stayed away from Windsor, cut into their market share...

Details about the agreement between the UAW and Chrysler are still coming into focus, but thoughts have already turned to the next contract to be negotiated at Ford. Talks have already been going on with Ford for months, and the fact that UAW President Ron Gettelfinger began his career at Ford as a chassis-line repairman, rose through the union ranks as a Ford bargainer and continues to have a close relationship with the company may give Ford some advantage in the talks. Ford is likely to be seeking more concessions from the UAW because Ford generally is considered the weakest of the Detroit Three in this round of contract talks...

Interesting that the day the voting is supposed to be done on the deal with GM turns out to be the day the strike starts at Chrysler. Should be a busy news day! Members of the United Auto Workers began walking off the job at Chrysler plants this morning after an 11 a.m...

The dust isn't close to settling yet is the way I read the story on Bloomberg.com. Chrysler LLC has been given until tomorrow to reach an agreement on a new contract with the United Auto Workers or face a possible strike, people familiar with the negotiations said. The previous contract between Chrysler and the UAW had been extended while negotiations between GM and the UAW were underway...

You know how the old joke goes. Doc tells a guy he has a bad heart. The guy says "I want another opinion." The doc says "OK, you're ugly too." UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and GM executives call the recent contract settlement a landmark agreement and say the it protects union jobs in America and will help GM compete with Japanese carmakers...

"This is like deja vu all over again." So spoke the philosopher Lawrence Peter Berra on the subject of history and the possibility that it repeats itself. And there's an AP story that should remind us all about the consequences of ignoring history. Caterpillar Inc. retirees are certainly feeling a bit of deja vu as they read the news about the settlement between GM and the UAW...

Cooler heads (or realists) prevailed and early this morning it was announced that the UAW and GM had come to a tentative agreement. The major sticking point of responsibility for retiree health care has been transferred to a union controlled trust. That shifts a $51 billion liability off of GM's shoulders...

The clock struck midnight (well 11am ET actually), no contract had been agreed upon, and UAW workers walked off the job in Indianapolis and some other GM plants around the country.  Some quotes from an early Chicago Tribune report: The strike, the first against GM since 1998, came after the two sides appeared close Sunday night to historic changes in the contract concerning health care and other benefits. Few observers had expected a strike because it comes as Asian automakers are grabbing bigger shares of the U.S. market and could be damaging to both sides...