Posts tagged automakers
This Union Is Plotting To Take Over The Auto Industry. Can It Be Done?
March 26, 2024 // “It’s no coincidence that UAW is finally gaining ground in Tennessee: Biden has absolutely tilted the playing field at the NLRB in favor of unionization,” David Osborne, fellow at the Institute for the American Worker, told the DCNF. “Unfortunately, many of these changes — like the NLRB’s ruling in Cemex that a union election isn’t even necessary — favor union officials at the expense of rank-and-file workers. In announcing its plans to expand unionization efforts, UAW is obviously embracing this new legal landscape.”
The UAW Has Set Its Sights on the Anti-Union South
March 8, 2024 // Young people are a crucial group for the campaign. In Alabama, very few young workers have ever been in a union, and their lack of familiarity with organized labor can prove a major stumbling block. While young people across the United States are particularly pro-union, their generational remove from the movement in the Deep South was a central factor in why workers voted against unionizing with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) at an Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, just twenty-five miles up the road from MBUSI.
UAW, Fain endorse Biden, say Trump ‘stands against everything we stand for’
January 24, 2024 // The United Auto Workers union's leader endorsed U.S. President Joe Biden's reelection bid on Wednesday with a fiery speech in Washington that was also harshly critical of Republican former President Donald Trump. In a full-throated endorsement of the Democratic incumbent, UAW President Shawn Fain cited Biden's pro-union record and his decision to become the first president to join a union picket line this summer during a successful autoworkers strike for higher pay. "Instead of talking trash about our union, Joe Biden stood with us," Fain said. Fain and Biden previously had sharp differences over electric vehicle policy, and the endorsement could be a strong boost to Biden in Michigan and other manufacturing states.
UAW President Shawn Fain plans to keep automakers sweating
January 1, 2024 // "I don't like what I've seen in my work career with the UAW leadership, where they were too damn close to the companies," UAW President Shawn Fain told CNN earlier this month. But when asked if things work better for his members when there's a less contentious or more contentious relationship between the UAW and the Big Three, Fain responded, "We just negotiated the most successful contracts in our history," he said. "For the last 30 years that I've been a member, we went backwards. So I like to let the body of work speak for itself," Fain said. The success of those contracts is the reason that Shawn Fain is CNN Business' labor leader of the year.
Tesla: UAW seeks to unionize car maker, battle expected with CEO Elon Musk
December 6, 2023 //
Commentary: Ford-UAW deal: Declare victory and go home
October 26, 2023 // The Ford Motor Company and the UAW struck a deal Tuesday for a 25 percent increase in the union members pay. It was only marginally higher than the 23 percent offer that had been on the table for weeks and far short of the 40 percent than the union had originally wanted. That’s not to say that 25 percent isn’t a significant increase for those workers but they likely could have had it a weeks ago. The union held out for much more until it was apparent that management wasn’t going to be that generous. Still, it was a win for new UAW President Shawn Fain, who got what he wanted. He got lots of media coverage of him leading a strike where he got to talk tough and make bold promises. But he did this without actually straining the union’s strike fund too much, because most workers weren’t striking.
Big Labor Is an Economic and Political Dead End
October 26, 2023 // While misguided faux populists like Senator Hawley adopt the policy positions of union leaders who want to force as many workers as possible to fund their self-interested political agenda, other Republicans should stand with workers and co-sponsor the Employee Rights Act. It would protect workers’ right to secret-ballot union elections, the right of freelancers to remain independent (as the vast majority prefer), and allow workers to decide for themselves whether they wish to share personal information with union organizers or support union political spending. Too often, labor issues are inaccurately described as having two sides: “union” and “management.” But this populist moment is the perfect time for Congress to stand up for the oft-forgotten but most important third group: actual workers. The Employee Rights Act would be the perfect start. In the face of President Biden’s advancing radical agenda and some Republicans’ erroneously gravitating towards it, this pro-worker legislation can’t be enacted a moment too soon.
UAW and Ford reach tentative deal to end strike
October 26, 2023 // The Ford deal includes the biggest contract wins the UAW has secured in years, including a 25 percent hike in base wages through April 2028, the union said. The agreement provides cost-of-living adjustments to wages that will help raise the top hourly wage by over 30 percent to more than $40 by the end of the contract, union officials said. The starting hourly wage will grow to more than $28. The deal also shortens the time it takes new workers to reach the top wage, and eliminates wage tiers that left newer workers on a lower pay scale, the UAW said. It also boosts Ford’s contribution to retirement accounts.
Stellantis “outraged” after UAW expands strike to Ram 1500 truck plant
October 24, 2023 // Stellantis said in a statement Monday afternoon it was "outraged" at the union's decision after the company's latest offer, which included a 23% wage increase. "Our very strong offer would address member demands and provide immediate financial gains for our employees," the company said. "Instead, the UAW has decided to cause further harm to the entire automotive industry as well as our local, state and national economies.
UAW members aren’t all assembling cars. More and more are unionized grad students
October 23, 2023 // These days, the "A" in UAW might as well include academia, as roughly 100,000 of the union's 383,000 members work in higher education. They include graduate students who work as teaching and research assistants, clerical and technical workers, adjunct professors and postdocs.