GEORGETOWN, Kentucky (Reuters) - As U.S. auto workers negotiate with the faltering Big Three under intense pressure to surrender benefits, employees at Toyota's flagship U.S. plant want what their blue-collar counterparts in Detroit have: union representation.

At least some do. Union drives at Toyota's Georgetown, Kentucky, plant have ebbed and flowed since it opened in 1988, with supporters battling to convince doubters that joining the United Auto Workers union will improve their lives.

The specter of crumbling fortunes at General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler haunt the union debate at the U.S. arm of Toyota Motor Corp., which is poised to overtake GM as the world's No. 1 automaker this year.

Union supporters argue that the Japanese automaker rode to a $14 billion profit last year on the backs of its nonunion workers, while doubters fear unionization would leave Toyota as crippled as its Detroit competitors -- or provoke retaliation.