The defining moment of union bargaining: How Fain’s UAW has doubled down on his wage cuts and how companies have benefited
Workers at three plants — a GM assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri, a Stellantis assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio, and part of a Ford plant in Wayne, Mich. — would be among the first to walk off the job under Fain’s new strike strategy.
It is expected that additional locations could follow at a moment’s notice, depending on how negotiations are going with the companies.
UAW members were told by Fain at a Facebook Live event that this is their generation’s defining moment. “The money is there, the cause is righteous, the world is watching.”
In the past, the UAW’s plan has usually been to have all workers walk off the job at the same time.
UAW used to pick a single car company to negotiate with, and then focused its actions on that company until it received a deal, pushing the other two Big Three members to do the same.
As the first-ever elected leader of the UAW, he has taken a more confrontational approach to bargaining than his predecessors, including filming himself throwing Big Three proposal in the trash.
He has consistently doubled down on his union’s demands, including 40% pay raises in line with CEO wage increases, the restoration of pension and retiree healthcare, and cost of living adjustments.
The profit margins of companies have been padded by factors including parts shortages when the Big Three automakers have seen their profits soar.
In a Facebook Live event on Wednesday night, Fain compared companies’ profits to those of autoworkers, who increased just 6 percent in four years.
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A prolonged strike poses a potential threat to the U.S. economy. If all of the UAW auto union members went on strike for six weeks, the economy would be shaved off 2% from fourth-quarter GDP.
All three automakers have budged on their initial wage proposals, from opening bids of 9 or 10% increases to as high as 20% in the most recent offers. The union says the offers don’t account for years of stagnant wages.
But the companies say they’ve made genuine attempts to reach agreements. General motors tried to head off a strike with a down-to-the-wire offer on Thursday afternoon, its CEO said it was a compelling and unprecedented economic package
“It addresses what you’ve told us is most important to you, in spite of the heated rhetoric from UAW leadership,” Barra said in a statement about GM’s latest offer, which would raise wages by 20% over the length of the contract.
The three companies have also put cost of living protections on the table — though the union says these offers wouldn’t provide enough wage protection to keep up with inflation over the next four-and-a-half years.
Ford would have lost billions, and gone bankrupt, if they had signed up for the Uaw’s requests, according to the head of the company. “There’s no way we can be sustainable as a company.”
The 17th strike in the United States would involve more than 2,000 workers according to data from the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
The union secured a 50 percent hike in wages for existing part-time workers over the course of the five-year contract after months of contentious negotiations.
In August, the Allied Pilots Association succeeded in persuading the airlines to raise pilots’ pay by over 50% over the next four years.
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The Big Three automakers were once the main choice for many Americans. But today, the market is populated with foreign automakers such as Toyota and Volkswagen, which are not being impacted by strike threats and can continue to produce cars at a steady clip.
“They don’t have exceptional leverage because there’s a lot of competition,” said Harry Katz, a professor of collective bargaining at Cornell University, referring to automakers’ ability to shift production to the non-union South or abroad.
Brandon Szcesniak, a 21-year-old union member who works at a Ford plant, told Labor Notes that people are angry. It is like a revolving door. it’s not a career anymore, it’s a job. They want us to buy Fords, but how can we buy a Ford on this pay?”
The UAW has been struggling to find a toehold at the plant, which is why it is operating with nonunion labor. The National Labor Relations Board accuses the company of prohibiting workers from discussing pay and working conditions. And there have been many OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) complaints filed against Tesla over the years.
This could be a nightmare situation for GM and Ford as both 313 stalwarts are in the early stages of a massive EV transformation path for the next decade that will define future success. He added that the “clear winner was… Musk and Tesla with champagne now on ice.”
The Economic Impact of the Auto-Electro-Violation Strike: The Case for Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis
Sam Florence of AutoForecast Solutions said the strike was symbolic, rather than damaging. But not everyone was in agreement.
Analysts were split on the economic impact of the strike, with some calling it symbolic and others devastating. The Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler, and Chevy Colorado pickup are some of the most profitable models produced at the struck plants.
This is the first time that workers at all three companies went on strike at the same time, and it happened while the automakers were making a huge switch to electric vehicles.
Those plans are now on hold, as Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis workers take to the streets to demand a share of the profits generated by combustion trucks and SUVs as well as stronger job security and better retirement plans.
Ford said it got a counterproposal from the union hours before the current contract expired but said there was “little movement” from the UAW’s previous proposal.
The two sides are far apart on some issues, according to Mary Barra. The offer they put on the table did not go down well with Barra, who said they still have a ways to go.
According to analysts, the Big Three spend roughly $65-$65 an hour on total labor costs, including benefits, while their rivals only spend $55 an hour and that of Musk’s company is roughly $50 an hour.
“The big issue for GM and Ford as well as investors is around if anywhere near a ~40% wage increase gets approved/agreed this will be a major headwind on the cost front and ultimately in some way be passed down to the consumer and thru EV prices,” he wrote in a research note. “The costs of EV vehicles out of Detroit is a major advantage going after mass adoption with any $3k, $5k, $7k, etc added to the slew of vehicles coming out would results in demand churn in our opinion.”
A strike could force the Big Three’s to agree to major increases in labor costs which could then be passed down to the consumer.
“I believe he’s going to hold out,” he says. “These big companies don’t understand how much stress and pain we put on our body, and missing our family’s lives.”
Coleman, who works in the production department at the plant in Toledo, says he has faith in the leadership despite being disappointed with the size of the strike.
A UAW Goes to Strike: Ford GMS, Stellantis Jeep Wranglers, and the Chevrolet Colorado, Chevrolet Canyon, and Dodge, and GM, and Related Models
This is not a coincidence. These are vehicles that consumers want and need, and these are plants where the production volumes are high and efficient,” she says.
The striking Stellantis plant makes Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators. Ford’s plant makes Broncos and Rangers. The Chevrolet Colorado, the Chevy Canyon, and two different vans are produced at the GM plant.
The $500 a week strike pay is far less than the regular salary of Bendert. It will be worth it if the UAW delivers their contracts, he says.
“I really trust Shawn Fain right now, and I think that he’s got a good plan. Kyle Bendert is an engine line supervisor at the Ford plant in Wayne, Mich. and he believes that the man is not just doing it off the seat of his pants.
There was a large crowd of people cheering and chanting for the plants to be back to work, and there was also a loud heckler who shouted at people to return to work.
Block, who has followed labor movements for decades, was fascinated to see Fain choose to strike all three automakers at the same time, but only at one plant.
Sharon Block is the executive director of Harvard Law’s Center for Labor and a Just Economy.
The UAW tried to allay those fears, putting out a video ahead of the strike explaining that most of the contract terms remain in effect, including that management still has to bargain with the union over any changes to wages, hours or working conditions.
“This is going to create confusion for the companies,” Fain told union members earlier this week. They will be kept guessing by it, and the power of our negotiators will be increased to be more effective.
He said that he thought the man was soft. I think he should have gone to a number of major plants and facilities to educate them about the seriousness of the situation.
Jerry Coleman is a long time temporary employee working at the Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio.
Source: As UAW strike begins, autoworkers want to ‘play hardball’
Thousands of Auto Workers in the Dark: The UAW strike against the Big Three automakers is on the road to the Goldstone boson
The United Auto Workers is about to launch a strike against the Big three automakers, causing workers’ emotions to run high.