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Post by Newsman on Sept 15, 2023 14:07:47 GMT -5
...UAW workers have begun a strike action against all three major U.S.-based auto companies...(The Guardian) 13,000 auto workers on strikeAbout 13,000 members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) began striking on Friday at 12.00am ET after automakers failed to negotiate a new contract to meet worker demands. The amount of workers on strike is only a fraction of the 150,000 total members of the UAW, but UAW officials say the strike could expand if negotiation talks continue to fail. The strike is the first one in the 88-year history of the UAW, after negotiations around wage increases, pension, and other union demands broke down. “If we need to go all out, we will,” UAW president Shawn Fain said, adding that company-wide strikes are not off the table if new contracts cannot be negotiated, CBS News reported.
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:12:41 GMT -5
(The Guardian) UAW president Shawn Fain previously wrote about autoworkers deserving a wage increase as automakers receive record profits. Fain detailed how an increase in manufacturing electric vehicles should also include an increase in workers’ wages. Read his essay for the Guardian, written with California congressman Ro Khanna. -- …[Here] we are in the 11th hour of UAW-big three negotiations, and corporate greed stands as the barrier preventing movement and a fair and good contract for autoworkers. Ford, General Motors and Stellantis have made a quarter trillion dollars over the last 10 years. Those profits, and the very existence of the big three today, were only possible through the sacrifices made by UAW members when American taxpayers bailed out the industry. Those same workers were never made whole after being forced to accept lower wages and were stripped of cost-of-living adjustments and retiree pensions.
Over the last four years, each big three CEO received on average a 40% pay raise on top of their multimillion-dollar salaries. Autoworkers saw their pay increase by a mere 6% in that same period of time, falling behind in inflation like the rest of American workers.
Since 2003, the big three have closed 65 auto plants. Plant closures ruin lives, rip apart families and wreck entire communities. For too long, the auto companies have treated these plants and workers as disposable for their bottom line. If allowed, they will continue to leave entire towns and communities behind.
What’s also at stake in these contract negotiations is the very future of the auto industry itself – and workers’ place in it. The electric vehicle transition must be as much about workers’ rights as it is about fighting the climate crisis. We will not let the EV industry be built on the backs of workers making poverty wages while CEOs line their pockets with government subsidies. There is no good reason why EV manufacturing can’t be the gateway to the middle class. But the early signs of this industry are worrying. We will not let corporate greed manipulate the transition to a green economy into a roll back of economic justice.
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:13:59 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:21:01 GMT -5
(The Guardian) General Motors CEO hits back at strikers for rejecting 'most significant offer' in 115 yearsThe CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra, has come out with fighting words over the start of the auto workers’ strike, saying she is “extremely frustrated and disappointed” that industrial action has begun and warning that the walkout would harm employees, their families and the economy. Speaking to CNBC, Barra, who has headed GM since 2014, called the concessions being offered by the Detroit three carmakers targetted by the strike “generous” and “historic”. They amounted to over 20% wage increases, she said, on top of job security and “world-class health care” which combined was “the most significant offer we’ve had in our 115-year history”. She added: “We didn’t have to be here”. Some 3,600 GM workers belonging to the United Auto Workers (UAW) union walked out of the carmaker’s Wentzville, Missouri plant at midnight on Thursday, part of the total of 12,700 who are out across three plants in the first stage of the strike. The Wentzville plant builds the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize trucks as well as cargo vans, which are among GM’s most popular models. Sounding a gloomy note, Barra told CNBC that “this is not going to be positive from an industry perspective or for GM”. She said that she thought the strike could be resolved quickly, but warned that its impact could be felt immediately, with painful consequences. We need to get there fast because this is not good for our employees, for the communities and their families. For every GM job there are six other jobs in the economy that depend on us running, so we’ve got to get back to work.”
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:24:56 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The United Auto Workers have aligned their wage increase demands of 40% to the similar salary increases the CEOs at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis have seen in recent years. CEO pay at the big three increased 40% from 2013 to 2022, while US auto worker hourly wages have fallen 19.3% since 2008 with inflation taken into account. According to data compiled by the non profit foundation As You Sow, General Motors’ CEO to median worker pay ratio is 362 to 1 and Ford’s is 281 to 1. CEO pay at the big three automakers in the US is substantially higher compared to CEO pay of foreign automakers, including ones with much higher revenues. Volkswagen reported 2022 revenue at $295.7bn and paid their CEO $9.1m, Toyota reported a revenue of $256.6bn with their CEO pay at $5m, Daimler (Mercedes Benz) reported 2022 revenue at $158.3bn with CEO pay at $3.17m, and Honda reported a revenue of $124.2bn with CEO pay at $1.48m. In comparison, Ford’s revenue in 2022 was $136.3bn, with CEO pay at $22.8m and General Motors’ revenue was $127bn with CEO pay at $29.1m. Stellantis reported a 2022 revenue of $191.4bn in 2022 with CEO pay at $24.8m. “UAW members see the CEO pay disparity as a measurement of how they are undervalued. Skyrocketing CEO pay is linked to worker dissatisfaction and lower profits, making excessive pay a distinct material risk that shareholders must take seriously,” said Rosanna Landis Weaver, director of wage justice and executive compensation at As You Sow, in a press release.
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:26:04 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Biden aides will travel to Detroit to help with UAW contract negotiations, WSJ reportsBiden is expected to send aide Gene Sperling and acting labor secretary Julie Su to Detroit given the auto strike, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sperling and Su are expected to help aid in negotiations between UAW workers and auto manufacturers, as workers began a historic strike on Friday at midnight, WSJ reported citing two people familiar with the plan. Per the WSJ: Sperling and Su, who have been in daily touch with the UAW and auto companies in recent weeks, won’t be directly involved in the negotiations or playing the role of a mediator, the people said.The trip comes as Biden is expected to give remarks on Friday about the strike from the White House, Reuters reports. Biden to begin speaking shortly on auto worker strikeBiden will soon give remarks about the UAW strike, Reuters reports. Biden will make his remarks on the strike from the White House’s Roosevelt room, which were originally scheduled for 11.30 am ET.
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:29:39 GMT -5
(The Guardian) As we wait for Joe Biden to deliver remarks on the UAW strikes, here is what industry experts and lawmakers are saying about the strikes, Reuters reports: Arthur Wheaton, director of labor studies at the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations says: “It’s not a devastating hit to the communities. It’s not a devastating hit for the strike fund. It’s not a devastating hit on the balance sheet for any of the automakers but it starts to raise the stakes, which was the intent. I think they are making progress at the table ... the initial (automaker) offers were much lower, like 9% (wage) increases and now you’re up to 20% for increases. So that’s more than double. You’re seeing the UAW come down. You’re no longer hearing anything about the 32-hour work week from the UAW,” he added.Sam Fiorani, a production forecaster at Auto Forecast Solutions says: “This is more of a symbolic strike than an actual damaging one ... If the negotiations don’t go in a direction that [UAW President Shawn] Fain thinks is positive, we can fully expect a larger strike coming in a week or two.”Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush believes a potentially prolonged strike may be good news for electronic vehicle manufacturer Tesla. -- “If the strike lasts longer than three to four weeks, it will be moderately detrimental to GM and Ford’s EV strategy in 2024 ... While the Detroit stalwarts battle with the UAW, there’s a bottle of champagne that’s being iced at Tesla headquarters,” he says.Meanwhile, Elissa Slotkin, a Democratic representative from Michigan voiced her support towards the strikes, saying: “I’m looking forward to joining our auto workers on the picket line this weekend. For the sake of Michigan’s economy and our working families, I hope this strike is short-lived ... I hope the UAW and the Big Three continue to negotiate in good faith to reach a fair agreement as quickly as possible.”
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:30:54 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Biden: 'Record corporate profits ... should be shared by record contracts for the UAW'Biden appeared to support the strikers in strong comments made during his White House address: The president said: “Record corporate profits ... should be shared by record contracts for the UAW.” He also expressed regret that the strike had not been averted but urged both parties to return to the negotiating table: “No one wants a strike but I respect workers’ rights to use their options under the collective bargaining system and understand their frustrations,” said Biden.“I do appreciate that the parties have been working around the clock … It is my hope that the parties can return to the negotiating table to forge a win-win agreement,” he added.
Biden said that in efforts to continue the White House’s “active engagement,” he is dispatching two members of his team to Detroit which include deputy labor secretary Julie Su and White House senior advisor Gene Sperling. Biden said that both Su and Sperling “offer their full support for the parties in reaching a contract.” “The bottom line is that autoworkers help create America’s middle class. They deserve a contract that sustains them in the middle class,” he said.
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:32:17 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Biden: Companies should go 'further' in strike negotiationsIn brief remarks on Wednesday, Joe Biden said that auto companies should “go further” in their negotiations with striking workers. “The companies have made some significant offers. But I believe that should go further to ensure record corporate profits mean record contracts,” he said. “Record corporate profits, which they have, should be shared by record contracts for the UAW,” Biden reiterated. “Just as we’re building an economy of the future, we need labor agreements for future,” he continued. Biden, who has previously declared himself as the “most pro-union president,” said during his remarks that “strong unions are critical to growing the economy and growing from the middle out, bottom up, not the top down.” “I believe that transition should be fair and a win-win for auto workers and auto companies. But I also believe contract agreements must lead to a vibrant…America…that promotes good strong middle class jobs,” he said. Biden also announced that he is dispatching deputy labor secretary Julie Su and White House senior advisor Gene Sperling to Detroit as part of the White House’s effort to continue its “active engagement” in the negotiations.
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:33:04 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:34:03 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Here is Tom Perkins’ report from outside Ford’s plant in Wayne, Michigan where striking workers are voicing their concerns: Mike Duneske is a 29-year plant veteran who says he is picketing outside the sprawling plant, which employs 2,800 hourly workers, for the “younger generation that isn’t earning enough money to make it”. When he started in 1994, his wage was $12.56 an hour, equal to nearly $26 an hour when adjusted for inflation in 2023. Workers start at about $16 an hour at Michigan Assembly, and that’s generating a huge amount of turnover. “It’s a turnstile in there, they can’t keep anyone working in the plant,” Duneske added. When asked why the UAW was forced to strike, Duneske responded, “Two words: corporate greed.”
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:35:07 GMT -5
Members of the United Auto Workers union (UAW) gather in front of the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant during the first day of a strike called in response to failed contract negotiations with the Big Three automakers - General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, the parent company of Jeep and Chrysler - in Detroit, Michigan, USA, 15 September 2023. Photograph: Dieu-Nali Chery/EPA Members of the United Auto Workers union (UAW) gather in front of the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant during the first day of a strike called in response to failed contract negotiations with the Big Three automakers - General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, the parent company of Jeep and Chrysler - in Detroit, Michigan, USA, 15 September 2023. Photograph: Dieu-Nali Chery/EPA
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:36:21 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The responses among picketers to Joe Biden’s comments on the strike and plans to travel to Detroit to help negotiate a deal varied. “He’s on our side because he needs the UAW support when the election comes – that’s why he’s on our side,” said Stu Jackson, who is nearing retirement. “And he says he’s a union man, so we’re going to give him a chance.” “We don’t need him to come and tell us what’s good for us because we already know what we need, but he probably needs to talk with the CEOs and get them to cooperate and give us what we’re entitled to,” Jackson added. “Biden already gave them a bunch of money for those battery plants, so now he’s got to take care of us and go to bat for us,” added Reggie Kirkland, who said he is striking to protect his retirement. Yvette Lenardo, who joined the picket even though she works at a nearby plant, said she was unsure whether the president has the UAW’s back. “He is supposed to be with us, but is he?” she asked, adding that she needs to hear more about his position on the strike. Another worker simply guffawed when asked if the president supported the union. “That’s all I have to say,” he said as he composed himself.
Ford CEO Jim Farley briefly stopped by to meet with picketers outside the Wayne, Michigan plant. Several workers near retirement weren’t particularly impressed by the gesture. He makes $29m a year, they noted, while hourly workers are “fighting to get money to survive after we leave here”. “How many years do we even have left to live after we retire? 10 years?” asked worker Stu Jackson, who highlighted the toll factory work exacts on workers’ bodies and health. The UAW gave up major concessions during the 2009 recession, but executives like Farley have yet to repay the union now that the industry is once again booming, said Terrance Pope. “They forgot about us and it is time for them to give back,” Pope added. Until that happens, Farley’s presence is meaningless and perhaps insulting, they said. “Did you see Farley in his tailored European suit? Wasn’t he sharp?” Jackson asked. “He looks like the $29m dollar man. Those nice shoes.” “And look at us,” Jackson added indignantly, motioning to the small group dressed in jeans, t-shirts and sweatpants. “This isn’t fair.”
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:36:54 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 14:37:29 GMT -5
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