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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 17:59:01 GMT -5
(The Guardian) UAW chief Shawn Fain hit back at Ford CEO’s claim that UAW’s demands would bankrupt the company. Speaking to reporters, Fain called Ford CEO Jim Farley’s comments “a joke”, adding: They could double our wages and they could not raise the price of vehicles and they would still make billions of dollars. It’s a lie like everything else that comes out of their mouth.”
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 17:59:26 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 18:00:04 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 18:00:51 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Republican senator JD Vance of Ohio has issued a letter to White House advisor Gene Sperling who president Joe Biden dispatched to Detroit as part of the White House’s liaising efforts in the negotiations. Vance, who said in a separate press statement that he supports the UAW’s demands for higher wages, told Sperling that his involvement “deserves further scrutiny”. Vance accused Sperling of seeking political gain by steering the strikes in traditionally Republican states, saying: The UAW’s planned strikes have targeted just three plants, including two in the deeply Republican states of Ohio and Missouri. Only one strike affects Michigan, where the bulk of UAW members live and work. This pattern seems hardly coincidental.
A major, multi-plant strike in Michigan could be costly to one of the president’s closest gubernatorial allies. It might create economic reverberations across a state that Donald Trump won in 2016. Perhaps these are mere coincidences, but your involvement supplies a different explanation and raises questions about the work President Biden enlisted you to do. It is unclear whether your purpose was to facilitate negotiations and avert a strike or to shield President Biden’s policies from scrutiny and protect his and Democrats’ political fortunes.”He went on to accuse Sperling of exploiting the “UAW to protect your boss at the expense of American workers”.
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 18:03:03 GMT -5
(The Guardian) UAW members are set to host a rally at the UAW-Ford National Programs Center in Detroit at 5pm ET where Vermont senator and vocal union supporter Bernie Sanders is set to make an appearance.
Michigan’s secretary of state made an appearance at the rally and pledged her support to UAW workers at the rally, saying: “We’re going to stand with you. We’re going to win. No matter how long it takes, no matter how long we need to stand together, we will lock arms and say, ‘Solidarity wins.’”
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 18:03:56 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer also made an appearance at the rally during which she addressed the crowd of UAW workers, telling them: We all want the same thing … our chance at a good life, a fair shot. We all want to be able to make it in Michigan, for us and our families and we are all on team Michigan. We will continue to fight to ensure that every worker is treated with dignity and respect and that Michigan continues to lead the world. I am here with you my brothers and sisters from the UAW. I love you. I respect you and I stand with you.”
Bernie Sanders has taken the stage in Detroit where he is addressing UAW workers currently on strike against auto companies. -- “The fight that you are waging here is not only about decent wages, decent benefits and decent working conditions in the automobile industry. It is a fight to take on corporate greed and tell the people on top this country belongs to all of us, not just a few,” said Sanders.
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 18:04:48 GMT -5
(The Guardian) “Despite record breaking corporate profits, despite corporate America spending hundreds of billions on dividends and stock buybacks, the average American worker today is worse off than he or she was 50 years ago,” said Sanders. “Brothers and sisters, that is exactly what this strike is all about,” he added.
“In the last 50 years, there has been a massive redistribution of wealth. The problem is it’s gone in the wrong direction,” said Sanders. “Instead of going from the top down to the bottom, it’s going from the bottom up to the top … we’re going to reverse that trend,” he continued. “If the ruling class of this country wants a redistribution of wealth, we’re going to give it to them,” he added.
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 18:05:59 GMT -5
(The Guardian) “Do you have any clue clue what it’s like for one of your workers to try and survive on $17 an hour, which is the average starting wage of an automobile worker?” Sanders said in his remarks, addressing General Motors CEO Mary Barra. “Do you know, Miss Barra, what it’s like to try and raise a family, put food on the table and pay rent when you’re making $20 bucks an hour?” he continued.
Sanders also addressed the CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, saying: Do you know, Mr Tavares, what it is like to be classified as a temp and despite working year after year, you’ll remain a temp, receiving wages and benefits significantly lower than your brothers and sisters doing the same exact work? Mr Tavares, do you have any clue what that is about?”
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 18:06:44 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Sanders also addressed Ford CEO Jim Farley, saying: Mr Farley, last year, you made nearly $21m in total compensation and my guess is that when you retire from your job, you’re going to have a great compensation … and all kinds of benefits. Do you have any clue as to what it’s like to be a worker getting older, having worked your entire life and not having any money in the bank as you prepare for retirement?”
“We will not accept that over the last 20 years, the average wage for American auto workers has decreased by 30% after adjusting for inflation,” said Sanders. “You’re wanting to know why you’re out on strike right now, that’s the reason,” he continued.
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 18:07:17 GMT -5
(The Guardian) “I read a lot in the media about how a strike is going to be bad for the economy. Well let me tell you something about the economy,” said Sanders. “When you have auto workers who cannot afford to buy the cars, that is bad for the economy. When you have auto workers who can’t afford to take out a mortgage to buy a modest home, that is bad for the economy. When you have auto workers who can’t afford childcare or to save up to send their kids to college, that is bad for the economy. When you have auto workers who can’t afford prescription drugs, can’t afford healthcare, that is bad for the economy,” he continued.
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 18:07:57 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Bernie Sanders at UAW rally: "We refuse to live in an oligarchy."“It is totally reasonable for autoworkers to finally receive a fair share of the record breaking profits,” said Sanders. “The time is long overdue to end the disastrous two-tier system. It means finally ending the use of temporary workers and very importantly, it means that every auto worker receives a decent pension so they can retire with dignity,” he continued, explaining the significance of the strikes. “It means as we combat climate change, the existential threat of climate change, you’re trying to make sure that this planet is healthy and habitable for our kids. That when the auto industry builds new electric vehicles and battery plants, it means that the workers in those plants become part of the UAW and receive the same wages and benefits as union members. Brothers and sisters, the CEOs of General Motors, Ford and Stellantis and their major stockholders on Wall Street have got to understand, they cannot have it all. We refuse to live in an oligarchy. We refuse to accept a society in which so few have so much and so many have so little. Brothers and sisters, enough is enough!” he said.
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 18:10:22 GMT -5
United Auto Workers members attend a rally in Detroit. The UAW is conducting a strike against Ford, Stellantis and General Motors. Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP Senator Bernie Sanders speaks to hundreds of United Auto Workers members at a rally. Photograph: Eric Cox/Reuters
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 18:11:57 GMT -5
(The Guardian) 7:10pm Summary--13,000 UAW workers from GM, Ford and Chrysler-parent company Stellantis went on strike after walking away from the contract bargaining table. The existing contract expired at midnight on Thursday. --General Motors CEO hit back at strikers for rejecting ‘most significant offer’ in 115 years saying she was “extremely frustrated and disappointed”. --President Joe Biden dispatched two aides, Gene Sperling and acting labor secretary Julie Su to Detroit to help move along negotiations and he urged both sides to return to the bargaining table. In remarks given from the White House, Biden said that “no one wants a strike” but he believed “Record corporate profits ... should be shared by record contracts for the UAW.” “The companies have made some significant offers. But I believe that should go further to ensure record corporate profits mean record contracts,” he said. --The UAW’s Twitter account was briefly stripped of its blue verification check shortly after the the UAW strikes began, a UAW official told the Intercept. The Intercept reports that the UAW’s blue check was restored once again after its initial story of the removed verification began circulating online. --UAW workers got wide-ranging support from members of congress including Bernie Sanders, Rashida Tlaib, Elizabeth Warren and Ohio senator Sherrod Brown. “It is totally reasonable for autoworkers to finally receive a fair share of the record breaking profits,” said Sanders. --Tensions from the strike escalated after GM announced it expected to idle a non-striking plant because it would soon run out of parts produced by a striking plant and give 2,000 workers temporary unemployment. Ford also said it would temporarily layoff 600 workers. --The UAW announced it would resume bargaining talks on Saturday, according to Reuters.
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 18:23:24 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Sept 15, 2023 18:25:16 GMT -5
--A sea of red T-shirt-wearing UAW members and their supporters gathered Friday afternoon, flanked on one side by General Motors Co.'s headquarters and on the other by Huntington Place, where auto industry insiders gathered gathering for the Detroit auto show's swanky charity preview gala amid the union's strike at plants run by all three Detroit automakers. (Stine Eckert, 15 Sept. 2023)--Gallup poll. Some of that will be general improving support for unions as awareness has gotten around about record corp profits and using inflation as an excuse to price gouge. Progs have had a role in that. Shawn Fain however will need to be skillful. 40% raise over 4 years is far more than other workers will get. If he refuses to negotiate the Big 3 might be able to get a reversal in public support. #UAWStrike #news (Balking Points, 15 Sept. 2023)
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