The United Auto Workers will begin bargaining on a new contract with Detroit's three automakers this week.In addition to the usual haggling over wages, pensions and health care, the UAW wants to make sure it represents workers at new joint-venture factories that will manufacture electric vehicle batteries. Union officials know that those are the jobs of the future as the industry undergoes a historic transition from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles.Talks with Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler), Ford and General Motors start this week.Gone will be the traditional friendly handshakes between union bargainers and auto executives, a sign that the talks will be more contentious this year.Shawn Fain, first UAW president elected by a direct vote of members, has said the union will seek general pay raises, elimination of wage tiers, and restoration of cost-of-living pay and pensions given up years ago when the automakers were in financial trouble. He also wants to stop plant closings.“It’s going to be a different set of dynamics at the negotiating table than they were in the last rounds. But that doesn't mean that it's highly unlikely that the parties can come to an agreement,” said Marick Masters, a Wayne State University business professor. “They've just got to sit down and be creative about finding the path."Four-year contracts between the union and the three companies expire at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14.