Automakers will be in default of their bailout money if their workers go on strike.
Sure, UAW “hasn’t threatened a strike” — but if the automakers are in default on their government loans if their workers strike, doesn’t that make them give up every bit of bargaining power they have for anything?
So, the unions don’t want to make concessions (see the Americans with No Abilities Act), they can force the automakers in to whatever deals they want?