With the UAW strike is in Day 4 and and government shutdown looming, Neil Bradley, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President joins us to discuss the "ripple effects" of both on the U.S economy. Bradley states that agreement to the demands made by UAW could lead to higher consumer costs and the Big Three becoming less competitive. Bradley says the Biden Administration is prioritizing a “whole of government approach,” which he fears could lead to an "imbalance in the management-labor relationship."

House Republicans have released a short-term bill that would avert a shutdown until the end of October. Bradley insists that a shutdown is a “choice” and worries that government shutdowns are becoming ”way too common.” Bradley warns the implications for the economy could be serious and hurtful for companies and individuals that rely on the government for permits or any sort of documents in order to run their businesses.

Video Transcript

SEANA SMITH: The future is still uncertain, Ford telling 600 workers not to come back to work at Michigan assembly plant. And GM warn the 2,000 workers are expected to be out of work at a Kansas assembly plant. Now, for more on the effects of the strike, we want to bring in Neil Bradley, US Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer. Neil, it's good to see you here.

So let's talk about the economic implications of this because we initially anticipated or at least we're bracing ourselves for a massive strike. At least right now, the strike is targeted at three plants. So what are the ripple effects? What are the economic implications of the strike up until this point?

NEIL BRADLEY: Well, Seana, you're exactly right on the ripple effects. And that's the way I would describe it. You're already beginning to see some of those ripple effects as you have other plants where a strike is not occurring, but they rely on parts and inputs from these other plants being affected. That's likely to continue, and it's likely to spread.

You've heard from the UAW president that they may accelerate and expand this strike. So even in the short term, we're not out of the woods yet in terms of the negative economic consequences. Though I think left almost undiscussed and it should be discussed a lot more is the long term impact of this on two fronts.

One, the demands that the union leadership has are only going to increase costs for consumers. If they come anywhere close to what they're demanding, you're talking about making these companies less competitive in the future. That has broader long term ramifications.

And then second, it's really fueling what we've seen as a summer of strikes where you have these unrealistic, almost excessive demands on the part of union leadership across a whole host of industries that could ultimately be destabilizing for the entire economy. And so that's one of the things that we're focused on at the US Chamber and one of the things that we're most concerned about.

BRAD SMITH: The administration has been very vocal about support of unions, especially in a year for some very landmark negotiations that have moved forward. And so now from the Chamber of Commerce side, when you look at some of the ramifications as you were mentioning more long term, what is first on the docket? What should be prioritized here from your perspective as a result of where UAW and where the auto manufacturers are still perhaps miles apart?

NEIL BRADLEY: Well, let's start with the public policy in the Biden administration. So the administration has adopted a whole of government approach to favoring unionization at any cost. In the middle of August, not reported on widely, but the National Labor Relations Board basically reversed 70 years of precedent and said that unions can become certified to represent workers without actually winning an election to demonstrate that they reflect the will of a majority of employees.

You combine that with some of the public policies that we see out of a number of agencies that are using tax dollars through grants and tax credits to basically favor unionized shops, and what you have is this whole government approach that is emboldening the unions to make these type of demands and really creating an imbalance in the management-labor relationship.

And it's that imbalance that ultimately is a long term threat to the economy. Our ask to the administration is, let's maintain balance. Yes, workers should be enjoying higher wages and the fruits of their labor. There's nothing wrong with unions, negotiating hard and for good contracts. But this approach to use government to put the thumb on the scale means that we're achieving an unbalanced economy. And that's when, as you all know, bad things start to happen in the economic future.

SEANA SMITH: So Neil, we have the UAW strike, obviously, the Biden administration paying very close attention to that. And we also have what's going on right down in D.C. on Capitol Hill. We're on the brink of a government shutdown if the two sides cannot reach an agreement. We had the House Republicans releasing a short term bill that would avert a government shutdown until the end of October. What do you think the odds are that we do see some sort of shutdown?

NEIL BRADLEY: Well, unfortunately, quite high. I think the consensus that's emerging in Washington is that a shutdown is almost inevitable. It's not inevitable. A shutdown is a choice. And the reality is that we are in a moment of divided government. Republicans control the House of Representatives, Democrats control the Senate and the White House. That means that any agreement is going to have to be bipartisan.

You're not going to have one side simply achieving all of their demands through keeping the government open as a hostage, if you will. If a shutdown occurs, this will be the fourth in a decade. This is becoming way too common of an occurrence. And it's going to have lots of ripple effects through the economy. People tend to focus on the spending that's all of a sudden stopped or delayed in the case of a shutdown.

One of the things that we focus on are all the people who rely on government doing its job so they can do theirs. During the last government shutdown, we heard from lobster fisherman, for example, who couldn't take their boats out because they couldn't get the certificate from the Department of Commerce to be able to operate because the government was shut down.

We talked to an innkeeper in Georgia who relied on the National Park Service to make sure that people could get to their inn. They lost an entire month's worth of bookings because the government was shut down. So when you think about people who need visas and permits and government certifications to operate, those are the ones who are immediately impacted. And the longer a shutdown goes on, the more time is lost and the more negative consequences for all of those businesses.

BRAD SMITH: Yeah, much more frequently and too frequently, something that we have to continue to evaluate and discuss. Neil Bradley, US Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.

NEIL BRADLEY: Thanks for having me.