Sure they can, they are private businesses. They can make the decision that they are no longer going to deal with the union bosses and union workers. There's no current contract in place. They should have done this long ago and the hospitals should have done the same thing to the nurses during the dispute. You simply have to be willing to deal with the short term fallout and the political pressure being brought to bear. From the automakers perspective, the timing could not be more perfect. Coming off record profits, sitting on piles of cash, people are feeling the pressure of inflation and I'm sure there are hundreds of thousands of people in those cities that are working multiple menial jobs to try to make ends meet, and would love to be able to upgrade and get one of those "union type" jobs with great benefits and good wages, all without having to join a union. There's also a big difference between RNs and LPNs and the average union worker with regard to the skill, experience and intelligence necessary to perform their jobs. Most union jobs in the auto industry are now are simply part loaders and material handling. Automation, robots, and specialized fixtures and tooling do all the real work. Aside from the programmers, techs, and robotics specialists, you'd be shocked at how little skilled labor actually exists in a modern automotive plant.
