Posts tagged electric vehicle
Op-Ed: Sherk: Proposed EV mandate will cost thousands of jobs
July 18, 2023 // he America First Policy Institute used Bureau of Labor Statistics data to estimate how many auto-manufacturing jobs the Biden Administration’s proposed EV mandate would cost. Our model produces estimates similar to prior studies for less-aggressive EV targets. The model finds that this stricter mandate — pushing EVs to two-thirds of U.S. vehicle sales — would eliminate about 120,000 auto-manufacturing jobs. Those job losses would be concentrated in the Midwest. Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio are the heartland of U.S. automobile production. These three states account for more than two-fifths of U.S. auto workers. As Lawrence Burns, the former VP for Research and Development at General Motors, has explained, the EV-induced “employment ramifications for states like Michigan and regions like southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio are really going to be a big deal.”
Despite President Joe Biden’s repeated boasts, union membership continues to fall
July 18, 2023 // Union members do not always agree with Democrats on policy matters. Biden's own green energy agenda is coming up against labor resistance, with organized auto workers prepared to strike over the hazards and lack of benefits in electric vehicle production. Biden must also work to keep blue-collar union members from slipping into the Republican column as candidates like former President Donald Trump play up American manufacturing and the virtues of import tariffs. But more recent headlines showcase unions fighting their traditional battles over pay, benefits, and worker protections.
OP-ED: BIDEN IS INVESTING IN GREEN ENERGY ACROSS THE SOUTH — THROWING SWING STATE UNION WORKERS UNDER THE BUS
July 12, 2023 // The success of the climate program will require continued federal commitment. Biden is placing a bet that clean energy investments could ultimately work the same way as the military-industrial complex. The military and its allied contractors have made sure to set up bases and/or manufacturing facilities in nearly every congressional district in the country, with extra attention paid to areas represented by key lawmakers. That has produced durable support for ever-expanding military budgets. Whether the same could be accomplished for the clean energy industry is an open question, but so far, Republicans from districts that have won federal awards have nevertheless voted to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, which funds the tax breaks. By subsidizing the decline of union jobs, the Biden administration risks empowering lawmakers who will then move to end the subsidies altogether. “The total lack of consideration for workers could certainly make the difference in 2024.” “What Biden is doing is politically insane, environmentally bankrupt, and it’s poor economics,” Larry Cohen, former president of the Communications Workers of America and board member of Our Revolution, told The Intercept.
UAW boss warns of race to the bottom in electric vehicle transition
July 12, 2023 // “Not only is the federal government not using its power to turn the tide – they’re actively funding the race to the bottom with billions in public money,” Fain wrote. “These companies are extremely profitable and will continue to make money hand over fist whether they’re selling combustion engines or EVs. Yet the workers get a smaller and smaller piece of the pie.” Electric vehicle jobs, like the 7,500 that will be created at the Kentucky and Tennessee Ford facilities, are “low-road jobs” that offer “no consideration for wages, working conditions, union rights or retirement security,” the union leader said.
UAW Skipping Ceremonial Handshake to Start Contract Talks
July 11, 2023 // “The members come first,” UAW President Shawn Fain said Monday in a statement. “I’ll shake hands with the CEOs when they come to the table with a deal that reflects the needs of the workers who make this industry run. When the 150,000 autoworkers at Ford, GM, and Stellantis receive the respect they are due for their sacrifice in generating the historic profits of the past decade, then we can proceed with a handshake.” Talks with Stellantis begin Thursday, followed by Ford on Friday and General Motors on July 18, according to the union. Change is in the wind The move to skip the handshake is completely inline with Fain’s militant approach, which is reminiscent of past tough talking UAW leaders like Stephen Yokich, Owen Bieber, Doug Fraser. However, recent union presidents have been less firebrand and more businessman.
Unions hate Biden’s EV push, Schumer & Co. vs. democracy and other commentary
July 6, 2023 // An “alignment between the United Auto Workers and former President Trump over electric vehicles threatens” the “alliance between the union and the Democratic Party,” notes Axios’ Nathan Bomey, with the UAW “withholding an endorsement for Biden’s 2024 campaign.” Already, “one in three UAW members voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020.” And “UAW President Shawn Fain ripped” Biden after “the Energy Department announced a $9.2 billion loan to Ford to build battery plants in the South,” since “EV factories won’t employ as many people as traditional assembly plants” and the likely “lower wages at new battery-making joint ventures.” As “Democrats need the Midwest to preserve political power, the president’s commitment to promoting EVs is testing his support among longtime allies
Biden’s push for electric cars alienates longtime union allies
June 29, 2023 // The union initially backed many of Trump's protectionist trade policies when he was president, including renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which they blamed for allowing U.S. manufacturing jobs to go to Mexico. Biden's re-election campaign, meanwhile, points to the historic early endorsements from the AFL-CIO and 17 others unions as proof of the president's pro-labor stance. The bottom line: At a time when Democrats need the Midwest to preserve political power, the president's commitment to promoting EVs is testing his support among longtime allies.
Prominent auto analyst on UAW contract talks: ‘I think we’re going to see a strike’
June 22, 2023 // Auto analysts at Bank of America feel confident in the likelihood of a United Auto Workers strike of at least one of the Detroit automakers later this year — and they expect the union to secure wage and benefit improvements that result in 25% to 30% higher labor costs for the companies over the four years of the contract. That's according to comments made Wednesday by John Murphy, managing director and lead U.S. auto analyst in equity research at Bank of America, during the financial institution's annual "Car Wars" presentation. The event was hosted by the Automotive Press Association. John Murphy, managing director and lead U.S. auto analyst in equity research at Bank of America, expects UAW members to be on the picket lines this September against at least one of the Detroit Three automakers. “I think we’re going to see a strike on Sept. 15," said Murphy. The UAW's current contracts with Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV expire Sept. 14. Talks on a new agreement are slated to start this summer. Murphy said he's highly confident in at least one strike happening, and that the chances of a subsequent strike at one of the other automakers is "much higher than normal."
The Morning Shift: UAW Faces An Uphill Fight On Unionizing Battery Plants
June 9, 2023 // While workers at the Ultium are organized and fighting for a contract, once agreed it won’t be applicable to workers at other EV facilities. Instead, UAW will have to run organizing drives and bargain locally at each site. Meanwhile, Ford has plans for three sites with SK On and one with Chinese partner CATL in Michigan; Stellantis will open a new plant with Samsung SDI in 2025; and GM has three U.S. battery plants coming with Korean partners, so the UAW will have its work cut out for it.
Commentary: Does Biden Know About This Impending Labor Strike?
May 29, 2023 // The most pro-labor union president is facing not one but two significant strikes under his watch. The latest is from the United Auto Workers Union