Ford Motor

They won't say so publicly, because they can't just a couple months before national contract talks begin, but this summer's bargaining between the United Auto Workers and Detroit's automakers is hurtling toward a fundamental choice:

Will the union and its three employers fashion yet another incremental multiyear contract that more or less embraces the status quo, clings to faith in a Democrat-controlled Washington and fails to solve the nagging competitive imbalance with their foreign-owned rivals?