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UAW represented members stopped working at three plants of the Big Three last night in an epic struggle that likely will drag on through at least tomorrow. Today, top UAW officials are on the picket lines, including the UAW International executive board, UAW reformist President Shawn Fain – the first president in UAW history directly elected by members – UAW vice presidents and national negotiators. One visit is at a UAW Ford facility in Detroit that Ford is trying to close. Surely Michigan Assembly close by in Wayne will be included.
At all of the US Big Three companies as of now their new or slightly revised offers when made public are so far short of the UAW requests that they might as well be non-existent. We will have to wait as things unfold. Big Three executives appear to have thought that business as usual would allow them to continue to do business. Well, not today…* (AutoInformed: Big Three UAW Strike Could Top $5B in Losses)
For Ford Motor company, prospects appear dimmer at the start of next week since it is the individual target company in Canada for Unifor whose contract expires on Monday. Lana Payne, National President Unifor, said last night: “As you know because the Canadian and US auto industries are so integrated the UAW labor dispute we don’t know yet what the extent of that impact will be the situation as it stands.” In Canada labor talks are suspended at GM and Stellantis until Ford reaches a deal with Unifor.
Thus far the UAW selective strike strategy of individual plants is more sophisticated than Unifor’s because most of its ~150,000 workers remain on the job with ~11,700 on strike. There now is intense pressure on the wealthy, stock enriched management of the auto companies and their numerous suppliers because the strike could go on indefinitely.
Moreover there are signs that a resurgent labor movement in other sectors will support the UAW with selective strikes. Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said today “The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, including our members in the carhaul industry, stand in solidarity with the United Auto Workers to get the best contract possible from America’s biggest automakers. Just as the Teamsters saw at UPS, record profits at any company must result in record contracts for the workers who make those profits possible…. All UAW members deserve respect at work and dignity in retirement. They deserve strong wages in a new contract that rewards them for everything they do for the Big Three and to keep this country moving. You can be sure there is no division in America’s labor movement today. And you are urged to remember that Teamsters don’t cross picket lines.” (AutoInformed: UAW to Start Selective Big Three Strikes at Midnight)
The Big Three plants now on strike are among the most profitable automobile plants in the universe since they are truck plants in the truck-dominated North American markets. Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne produces the Ford Bronco and Ranger. The GM Wentzville Assembly Plant in Missouri east of St. Louis makes the Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana (will nearby Fairfax follow as the supply chain is disrupted?). The Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio produces the Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Gladiator, as well as axles, chassis parts and powertrains for other Stellantis plants (the present owner of what used to be FCA – Fiat Chrysler.)
“We’re not just going to stand by as corporate executives and the rich can continue to make extraordinary profits while the rest of us continue to get left further and further behind at the Big Three,” Fain said. Labor is only roughly 5% of the cost of a new vehicle. Since it’s estimated that ~30% of UAW workers voted for Trump, no-one should be surprised by the language of resentments that is now, well, employed to talk to them.
There are large forces at work here, ones that might alter the actions in the universe of all working people everywhere. So the work of socially progressive Walter Reuther and other UAW founders continues – on the picket lines where it started. CEOs are not the center of their universe. The companies are “staring down a well-organized and pissed off workforce that’s ready to do what it takes to win a strong contract,” Fain said the day before the selective strikes ensued.
President Biden at the White House this afternoon said: “You know, I’ve been in touch with both parties over – since this began over the last few weeks. And over the last -the past decade, auto companies have seen record profits, including the last few years, because of the extraordinary skill and sacrifices of the UAW workers. But those record profits have not been shared fairly, in my view, with those workers. (AutoInformed: UAW Blasts Biden and Inflation Reduction Act; UAW and Big Three Makers – Biden Wants a Fair Deal)
“Just as the Treasury Department has released a report, pointing out that – the most comprehensive report ever, dealing with how unions are good for both union workers and non-union workers to the overall economy. Unions raise workers’ wages, they said – incomes – increase home ownership; increase retirement savings; increase access to critical benefits, like sick leave and childcare; and reduce inequality – all of which strengthen our economy for all workers.
“That’s because unions raise standards across their workplaces and entire industries, pushing up wages and strengthening benefits for everyone. And that’s why strong unions are critical to growing the economy and growing it from the middle out, the bottom up, not the top down. That’s especially true as we transition to a clean energy future, which we’re in the process of doing. I believe that transition should be fair and a win for auto workers and auto companies.
“But I also believe the contract agreement must lead to a vibrant, made-in-America future that promotes good, strong middle-class jobs that workers can raise a family on – where the UAW remains at the heart of our economy and where the Big 3 companies continue to lead in innovation, excellence, quality, and leadership….
“Let’s be clear: No one wants a strike. I’ll say it again: No one wants a strike. But I respect workers’ right to use their options under the collective bargaining system. And I understand the workers’ frustration. Over generations, auto workers sacrificed so much to keep the industry alive and strong, especially through the economic crisis and the pandemic. Workers deserve a fair share of the benefits they helped create for an enterprise.
“I do appreciate that the parties have been working around the clock. I’ve – and when I first called them at the very first day of the negotiation, I said, “Please stay at the table as long as you can to try to work this out.” And the – they’ve been around the clock, and the companies have made some significant offers. But I believe they should go further to ensure record corporate profits mean record contracts for the UAW.
“I’m going to say that again: Record corporate profits – which they have – should be shared by record contracts for the UAW….
“To continue our active engagement, I’m dispatching two members of my team to Detroit, Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and White House Senior Advisor Gene Sperling – both of them have been involved up until now – to offer their full support for the parties in reaching a contract.
“The bottom line is that auto workers helped create America’s middle class. They deserve a contract that sustains them and the middle class,” president Biden said.
*AutoInformed on
UAW on Strike at Select Ford, GM, Stellantis Plants
Click for more information.
UAW represented members stopped working at three plants of the Big Three last night in an epic struggle that likely will drag on through at least tomorrow. Today, top UAW officials are on the picket lines, including the UAW International executive board, UAW reformist President Shawn Fain – the first president in UAW history directly elected by members – UAW vice presidents and national negotiators. One visit is at a UAW Ford facility in Detroit that Ford is trying to close. Surely Michigan Assembly close by in Wayne will be included.
At all of the US Big Three companies as of now their new or slightly revised offers when made public are so far short of the UAW requests that they might as well be non-existent. We will have to wait as things unfold. Big Three executives appear to have thought that business as usual would allow them to continue to do business. Well, not today…* (AutoInformed: Big Three UAW Strike Could Top $5B in Losses)
For Ford Motor company, prospects appear dimmer at the start of next week since it is the individual target company in Canada for Unifor whose contract expires on Monday. Lana Payne, National President Unifor, said last night: “As you know because the Canadian and US auto industries are so integrated the UAW labor dispute we don’t know yet what the extent of that impact will be the situation as it stands.” In Canada labor talks are suspended at GM and Stellantis until Ford reaches a deal with Unifor.
Thus far the UAW selective strike strategy of individual plants is more sophisticated than Unifor’s because most of its ~150,000 workers remain on the job with ~11,700 on strike. There now is intense pressure on the wealthy, stock enriched management of the auto companies and their numerous suppliers because the strike could go on indefinitely.
Moreover there are signs that a resurgent labor movement in other sectors will support the UAW with selective strikes. Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said today “The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, including our members in the carhaul industry, stand in solidarity with the United Auto Workers to get the best contract possible from America’s biggest automakers. Just as the Teamsters saw at UPS, record profits at any company must result in record contracts for the workers who make those profits possible…. All UAW members deserve respect at work and dignity in retirement. They deserve strong wages in a new contract that rewards them for everything they do for the Big Three and to keep this country moving. You can be sure there is no division in America’s labor movement today. And you are urged to remember that Teamsters don’t cross picket lines.” (AutoInformed: UAW to Start Selective Big Three Strikes at Midnight)
The Big Three plants now on strike are among the most profitable automobile plants in the universe since they are truck plants in the truck-dominated North American markets. Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne produces the Ford Bronco and Ranger. The GM Wentzville Assembly Plant in Missouri east of St. Louis makes the Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana (will nearby Fairfax follow as the supply chain is disrupted?). The Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio produces the Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Gladiator, as well as axles, chassis parts and powertrains for other Stellantis plants (the present owner of what used to be FCA – Fiat Chrysler.)
“We’re not just going to stand by as corporate executives and the rich can continue to make extraordinary profits while the rest of us continue to get left further and further behind at the Big Three,” Fain said. Labor is only roughly 5% of the cost of a new vehicle. Since it’s estimated that ~30% of UAW workers voted for Trump, no-one should be surprised by the language of resentments that is now, well, employed to talk to them.
There are large forces at work here, ones that might alter the actions in the universe of all working people everywhere. So the work of socially progressive Walter Reuther and other UAW founders continues – on the picket lines where it started. CEOs are not the center of their universe. The companies are “staring down a well-organized and pissed off workforce that’s ready to do what it takes to win a strong contract,” Fain said the day before the selective strikes ensued.
President Biden at the White House this afternoon said: “You know, I’ve been in touch with both parties over – since this began over the last few weeks. And over the last -the past decade, auto companies have seen record profits, including the last few years, because of the extraordinary skill and sacrifices of the UAW workers. But those record profits have not been shared fairly, in my view, with those workers. (AutoInformed: UAW Blasts Biden and Inflation Reduction Act; UAW and Big Three Makers – Biden Wants a Fair Deal)
“Just as the Treasury Department has released a report, pointing out that – the most comprehensive report ever, dealing with how unions are good for both union workers and non-union workers to the overall economy. Unions raise workers’ wages, they said – incomes – increase home ownership; increase retirement savings; increase access to critical benefits, like sick leave and childcare; and reduce inequality – all of which strengthen our economy for all workers.
“That’s because unions raise standards across their workplaces and entire industries, pushing up wages and strengthening benefits for everyone. And that’s why strong unions are critical to growing the economy and growing it from the middle out, the bottom up, not the top down. That’s especially true as we transition to a clean energy future, which we’re in the process of doing. I believe that transition should be fair and a win for auto workers and auto companies.
“But I also believe the contract agreement must lead to a vibrant, made-in-America future that promotes good, strong middle-class jobs that workers can raise a family on – where the UAW remains at the heart of our economy and where the Big 3 companies continue to lead in innovation, excellence, quality, and leadership….
“Let’s be clear: No one wants a strike. I’ll say it again: No one wants a strike. But I respect workers’ right to use their options under the collective bargaining system. And I understand the workers’ frustration. Over generations, auto workers sacrificed so much to keep the industry alive and strong, especially through the economic crisis and the pandemic. Workers deserve a fair share of the benefits they helped create for an enterprise.
“I do appreciate that the parties have been working around the clock. I’ve – and when I first called them at the very first day of the negotiation, I said, “Please stay at the table as long as you can to try to work this out.” And the – they’ve been around the clock, and the companies have made some significant offers. But I believe they should go further to ensure record corporate profits mean record contracts for the UAW.
“I’m going to say that again: Record corporate profits – which they have – should be shared by record contracts for the UAW….
“To continue our active engagement, I’m dispatching two members of my team to Detroit, Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and White House Senior Advisor Gene Sperling – both of them have been involved up until now – to offer their full support for the parties in reaching a contract.
“The bottom line is that auto workers helped create America’s middle class. They deserve a contract that sustains them and the middle class,” president Biden said.
*AutoInformed on