Posts tagged Shawn Fain
Harris girds for battle with Trump over union workers and their Big Labor bosses
August 28, 2024 // Ultimately, the labor vote is likely to follow the candidate workers feel can best address the economic concerns of the working class. Harris will almost certainly win the labor vote, but what will really matter is Trump's ability to cut into her margins with appeals to working-class voters on issues like immigration and trade.
Op-Ed: Why autoworkers in thriving S.C. should resist unionization efforts
August 26, 2024 // South Carolina has emerged as a critical player in the automotive industry, with major manufacturers establishing significant operations across the state. This success is a testament to our pro-business environment, which includes favorable labor laws, competitive wages, and a low cost of doing business. The South Carolina legislature has worked hard to create an environment that is fueling job creation and economic growth.
Shawn Fain’s DNC Bombast And Trump/Musk Lawsuits Show UAW’s New Political Power
August 23, 2024 // A company statement said market conditions have caused it only to delay its production plans for the plant. It went on to say, “The Company has not violated the commitments made in the Investment Letter included in the 2023 UAW Collective Bargaining Agreement and strongly objects to the Union’s accusations. In fact, the UAW agreed to language that expressly allows the Company to modify product investments and employment levels. Therefore, the Union cannot legally strike over a violation of this letter at this time.”
UAW workers at Stellantis could strike over Illinois plant reopening
August 20, 2024 // Last month, the U.S. Energy Department said it planned to award Stellantis $334.8 million to convert the shuttered Belvidere Assembly plant to build EVs and $250 million to convert its Indiana Transmission Plant in Kokomo to produce EV components. The UAW said since 2023 "the company has gone back on its product commitments at Belvidere, and has been unreceptive in talks with the union to stay on track." The UAW added "this glaring violation of the contract imperils all of the other investment commitments the company has made."
Commentary: Unions are bad for cities
August 16, 2024 // The truth is that unionization doesn’t even increase wages for all union members. Single-salary schedules ensure that senior members earn the most and new members the least, regardless of value or merit. While union leaders may brag about the union member premium — the ostensibly higher wages that unionized workers earn — it only exists for older members, where it exists at all. What’s more, unions’ seniority layoff system protects longer-serving union members before anyone else. The most junior employees are the first to be let go and the last to be rehired. Last-in-first-out layoffs do nothing to improve productivity, but they do a lot to protect senior members.
Commentary: Why Labor Strikes Are Likely to Take Off under a Harris-Walz Administration
August 14, 2024 // It is worth noting that the United Auto Workers (UAW) want to unionize the employees of Musk’s electric-car company, Tesla. Fain was paid $228,872 as head of the UAW in 2023; the twelve “top officers are paid in excess of the [sic] $200,000 and hundreds more earn six figures, putting them in the top 5 percent of US income earners.” It is also worth noting that the “total dues-paying membership of the UAW fell by 13,000 last year to 370,000, down from 383,000 in 2022.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average autoworker is paid $30.78 per hour and works 41 hours per week, adding up to about $66,000 per year.
Harris secures support from union leaders. But workers are still weighing their options.
August 14, 2024 // A video message from Fain praising Walz on the union’s Facebook page elicited a tsunami of negative comments from factory workers across the country, many of whom voiced their support for the Republican ticket.
Stellantis to lay off thousands of Warren union workers, UAW responds
August 13, 2024 // According to the Associated Press, Stellantis may lay off as many as 2,450 of the 3,700 workers at its Warren automobile plant. The job cuts would be at the Stellantis Warren Truck Plant, which builds an older version of the Ram 1500 pickup called the Tradesman, sold mainly to commercial businesses. The company came out with a new version of the truck in 2018, and for the 2025 model year there's a new Tradesman.
UAW chief: Trump has ‘never supported working class people’
August 6, 2024 // She walked the picket line with General Motors striking workers in 2019 and was there with Biden “though a lot of things we’ve been through,” he said. “She’s been there for labor,” he said, later adding, “I think she’s a brilliant woman. A very strong person.” Harris, Fain argued, understands the issues.
Opinion: UAW’s President Shares Union’s VP Wish List, and It Conflicts With Likely Kamala Pick Shapiro
August 5, 2024 // After a notable moment of dead air, Fain explained that the UAW has "really broken down these candidates, looked at them." Who is the top favorite? Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who, the union organizer pointed out, has walked the picket line with UAW, like lame duck Pres. Biden. He also gushed about the Bluegrass state progressive governor's ability to win reelection in a "traditionally" red state: He's been with us through every bit of our walk, and he's won in a state that [former Senate Majority Leader, GOP Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell is from. It's been a red state traditionally. He's won twice there.