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The United Auto Workers Union today released a study called “High Risk & Low Pay: A Case Study of Ultium Cells Lordstown,” that emphasizes “the dangerous working conditions at General Motors’ joint-venture battery cell plant in Lordstown, Ohio.”* It includes worker testimonials and health. The white paper follows a video released last week, “Our Defining Moment,” with Ultium workers speaking out on the risk of a failed transition to electric vehicles if companies like General Motors continue to pursue what the UAW led by a progressive Shawn Fain calls “a low-road approach.” (AutoInformed: UAW Blasts Biden and Inflation Reduction Act)
“This case study of Ultium Cells Lordstown shows there is a real danger that hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars will subsidize an EV industry that underpays and endangers workers. Ultium is a joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solution. Its Lordstown, Ohio, plant makes the battery cells that power GM’s growing EV fleet. Ultium’s Lordstown plant could qualify for tax credits worth more than $1 billion a year,” the UAW said.
“Despite this potentially massive subsidy, Ultium offered workers a starting wage of just $16.50 an hour when it opened in the summer of 2022. Even after seven years, workers would make just $20 an hour. Troublingly, Ultium workers have also reported serious health and safety problems at the plant,” the UAW said. (AutoInformed: GM and LG Chem Have Deal on Battery Materials)
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“Facing hazardous conditions and low pay, the Lordstown workers organized with the UAW and voted 710 to 16 to join the union. Ultium’s Lordstown workers are showing there’s a better way forward for EV manufacturing in America. A way that maintains the same strong pay and safety standards that UAW members have won at Big Three plants across the country. Ultium’s Low-Road Strategy Leads to High Risks for Workers Since opening, Ultium’s Lordstown plant has been cited multiple times by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OHSA). This report includes a rundown of those OSHA citations as well as first-hand accounts from workers of injuries they’ve suffered,” the UAW said.
*Study and Video
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
UAW Say GM’s Lordstown JV Battery Plant Dangerous
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The United Auto Workers Union today released a study called “High Risk & Low Pay: A Case Study of Ultium Cells Lordstown,” that emphasizes “the dangerous working conditions at General Motors’ joint-venture battery cell plant in Lordstown, Ohio.”* It includes worker testimonials and health. The white paper follows a video released last week, “Our Defining Moment,” with Ultium workers speaking out on the risk of a failed transition to electric vehicles if companies like General Motors continue to pursue what the UAW led by a progressive Shawn Fain calls “a low-road approach.” (AutoInformed: UAW Blasts Biden and Inflation Reduction Act)
“This case study of Ultium Cells Lordstown shows there is a real danger that hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars will subsidize an EV industry that underpays and endangers workers. Ultium is a joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solution. Its Lordstown, Ohio, plant makes the battery cells that power GM’s growing EV fleet. Ultium’s Lordstown plant could qualify for tax credits worth more than $1 billion a year,” the UAW said.
“Despite this potentially massive subsidy, Ultium offered workers a starting wage of just $16.50 an hour when it opened in the summer of 2022. Even after seven years, workers would make just $20 an hour. Troublingly, Ultium workers have also reported serious health and safety problems at the plant,” the UAW said. (AutoInformed: GM and LG Chem Have Deal on Battery Materials)
Click for more information.
“Facing hazardous conditions and low pay, the Lordstown workers organized with the UAW and voted 710 to 16 to join the union. Ultium’s Lordstown workers are showing there’s a better way forward for EV manufacturing in America. A way that maintains the same strong pay and safety standards that UAW members have won at Big Three plants across the country. Ultium’s Low-Road Strategy Leads to High Risks for Workers Since opening, Ultium’s Lordstown plant has been cited multiple times by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OHSA). This report includes a rundown of those OSHA citations as well as first-hand accounts from workers of injuries they’ve suffered,” the UAW said.
*Study and Video
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.