Former UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, with his successor, Bob King.

The United Auto Workers Union is ramping up a broad campaign to organize workers at the so-called transplant assembly lines operated by foreign-based automakers like Toyota, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai.

A goal the union has largely failed to accomplish since the first transplants opened here, a quarter century ago, some believe the latest campaign could be critical to the viability of the UAW itself.

Autoworkers President Bob King first approached European, Japanese and Korean automakers last year to sign a set of principles that would allow organizing elections, supervised by an independent third party.  Otherwise they will face what the union describes as a de-branding campaign’

Two German automakers have indicated they might be willing to consider honoring the union’s demand for neutrality as it attempts to recruit new members at their plants, King said.

“We’ve had discussions with German automakers. But we’ve promised to keep the discussions confidential,” King said, after a speech at The Automotive News World Congress, which is held annually during the North American International Auto Show.

During his speech, King outlined the request for neutrality the union has presented to German, Japanese and South Korean automakers.  “We have to convince them we’re not the evil empire,”  he said. “We’re not looking for a confrontation,” King insisted, adding, “We don’t want an adversarial relationship.”

“These are great companies,” the UAW president said, but they could be even greater with the aid of the UAW.

King noted the  UAW  has been an essential part of the rebuilding of Ford Motor Co.’s image and reputation  for quality and  has actively participated in Chrysler’s turnaround over the past  year.

“Working with us is a smart business decision,” he said, adding that worker attendance at UAW-organized Ford plants is better than the attendance at any of the transplants. In addition, the labor relations staffs at the plants are larger than those at Ford. “They could save themselves millions of dollars,” he said.

King also said the reasons for belonging to a union go beyond economics. Pay at union and non-union auto plants is essentially equal , running between $25 to $28 dollars for long term employees.  But the transplants tend to use a higher number of temporary workers who are paid half as much, with few or no benefits.

King estimated that 25% of employees are transplant are defined as temporary.

Unions also also give workers a sense of dignity and a voice, he said.

The UAW has repeatedly tried to organize the transplants but has so far had only marginal success.  All the foreign-owned factories that do have union representation are, or at least started  out as joint ventures with an American company.  That includes the Ford/Mazda plant south of Detroit and the one-time Chrysler/Mitsubishi factory in Bloomington, Illinois.  Chrysler later sold off its stake.

The NUMMI plant, near San Francisco, originally set up as a GM/Toyota joint venture recently closed.  Much of the work it performed will be transferred to a new, non-union plant the Japanese maker is setting up in Mississippi.

The principles the UAW has proposed would require companies such as Toyota, Honda, Hyudai (and sibling Kia), Nissan, BMW, Volkswagen AG and Mercedes-Benz to remain neutral during the UAW’s effort to organize. “They can’t threaten to close plants,” he said. “They can’t tell lies about us or tell people the union will make their plant uncompetitive,” King said.

King also warned that those foreign carmakers which don’t accept the principles will face a bruising campaign, though he insisted, “I don’t want to use the word, ‘boycott.’”

“But I don’t think any company wants to be accused of violating human rights,” said King. “I don’t think they want to be accused of treating their American workers as second-class citizens,” he said, adding that all of the European, Japanese and Korean have heavily unionized plants in their own countries.

The union is prepared to use “all of its resources” and bring its allies into the fight.  The union also is setting up a global initiative that will recruit young people to attack the reputation of the targeted company’s failure to allow freely elected trade union in their plants.

Unions have been essential to the creation of the middle class around the world, he said, arguing that, “You can’t have democracy without a middle class.”

King also defended the UAW when it was noted the union was encouraging Fiat to move jobs from Italy to the U.S.  “I hope (Fiat-and the Italian unions) can find a way to work together,” he said.

Sergio Marchionne, CEO for both Fiat and its American ally, Chrysler, has given workers at Fiat’s Italian plants until Friday to agree to significant concessions the executive claims are needed to make the factories competitive.  Otherwise, he has threatened, a significant amount of production will be transferred to the U.S.

Just yesterday, Marchionne confirmed Chrysler’s Detroit assembly plant will build a new SUV for sale in Europe under the Maserati brand.