U.S. Government Aid to Car-Makers Contigent on "no strikes"

American Workplace Law Prof posted a story  that was reported in the Wall Street Journal about how the aid package to General Motors and Chrysler includes a term that allows the government to void the agreement if the United Auto Workers were to engage in strike action.   The story notes that the provision came as a surprise to the UAW.  As I understand this, the agreement does not ban a strike, since the UAW is not even a party to the agreement.  Rather, it says that the government can stop giving the car companies money under the agreement if a strike happens.  As Jeff Hirsh of Workplace Blog notes, its unlikely the UAW would strike in the current climate in any event.  But the clause in the aid agreement creates an even greater incentive for the union members to avoid a strike, since their jobs might very well depend upon their employers receiving this aid.
In Canada, we are stay waiting for the precise terms of the auto industry bailout, and apparently both the employers and the CAW are somewhat in the dark as to what those terms will be.  Given that the Canadian plan is intended to be similar to the American one, but on a smaller scale, perhaps we will also see some sort of ‘no strike’ condition.   Certainly that wouldn’t be surprising from the Conservative government, which agitated the labour movement earlier this winter by unexpectedly pledging to ban federal government worker strikes.
It appears that ‘no strike’ agreements are getting contagious in the North American auto sector (see earlier stories about the Canadian Auto Workers agreement to not strike Magna)