Posts tagged strike funds
UAW strike grows by 4,000; now affects 29,000 workers
October 11, 2023 // The 4,000 workers at Mack Trucks will join the 25,000 UAW members who’ve joined the strike since Sept. 15. The “stand up strike,” as Fain has called it, has employed selective strikes, wherein members are called to “stand up” to strike, rather than taking all 150,000 UAW members out of work simultaneously. The strike started at three facilities but has now expanded nationwide. UAW members who go on strike earn $500 per week in strike pay, paid out by the union.
As Predicted, UAW Strike Remains Limited, Spares Automakers From Full Walkout
October 11, 2023 // As CEI noted when the strike began, “The claim that this ‘stand up’ approach creates the maximum pressure is bogus. History clearly shows that if a union wants a serious confrontation with the manufacturers, it has all of its members on the picket lines. … The fact that [UAW President Shawn] Fain hasn’t ordered that suggests he doesn’t actually want that or doesn’t think the union could sustain it.” After two weeks, Fain tacitly conceded there had been no progress in the talks, so he upped the pressure to 25,000 workers on the picket lines, or about one-sixth of the UAW’s members. To be clear, this is causing problems for manufacturers. Fain has targeted the plants where work stoppages can cause the most economic damage. Losing $200 million is still real money even for a corporation like GM. But the UAW’s call for wage increases of up to 36 percent, well beyond the 20 percent the auto makers have offered, is something the manufacturer hasn’t budged on yet. And it isn’t likely to so long as only one-sixth of the UAW members are striking.
UAW’s Fain says new strike strategy has produced no ‘meaningful progress’
October 4, 2023 // Why not a full strike? That is what unions traditionally do, after all. The reality is that UAW fears it doesn’t have a deep enough strike fund for a prolonged confrontation. The union is instead making a virtue of necessity by striking in a limited manner and presenting that as a “new strategy.” The UAW strikes have thus far been targeting plants that make parts for dealership. Most car dealerships are independent business that make most of their revenue from servicing existing cars rather than selling new ones. A shortage of parts, UAW hopes, will cause dealerships to pressure the manufacturers to make concessions. The mood was mixed among the UAW members watching the livestream. “It’s not working,” commented Jesse Gonzales. “If it were, we would not have to continue striking more plants.”
How state unemployment benefits impact the UAW strike
September 27, 2023 // "We were very confused if we were going to get (strike pay) or not," Halle Heinz, one of the Ford employees laid off, told WXYZ-TV in Detroit. "They were trying to hold as much strike pay as they could in order to make everything survive." Under Michigan law, UAW workers generally won't qualify for unemployment if they get laid off because of a labor dispute involving other workers at the same worksite, Brett Miller, an attorney specializing in labor law for Butzel in Detroit, tells Axios. UAW's Ohio and Indiana director is also navigating murky waters when it comes to unemployment. "It's clear as mud," UAW Region 2B director David Green told Crain's Cleveland Business. "I don't want to say all our members are going to get unemployment, because that's not going to happen." Disputes over unemployment benefits could end up in court, he said.
Newsom in the hot seat after California passes bill to give striking workers unemployment benefits
September 15, 2023 // At an event hosted by Politico on Tuesday, the governor expressed concerns about the unemployment insurance fund's debt but didn't say whether he would veto the bill. California's unemployment fund is more than $18 billion in debt after it borrowed money from the federal government to pay for unemployment benefits. "I think one has to be cautious about that before you enter the conversation about expanding its utilization," Newsom said. Democrats, on the other hand, have been voicing their support for the unions.
Biden’s Union Problems Are a Gift to Trump
September 8, 2023 // Former President Donald Trump, who won Michigan by just under 11,000 votes in one of the biggest political upsets of the 2016 election, weighed in on the possibility of a strike over the Labor Day weekend, referring to Fain as a "respected" union head and vowing to stop the "madness" of electric vehicles. A labor action from UAW is likely to open up an opportunity for Trump to seize one of Michigan's most critical counties. Recent polls show that Biden is in a statistical dead heat against Trump. The Democrat is leading by just one percentage point, according to RealClearPolitics' polling averages. "Fain is in no hurry to endorse President Biden when a significant number of UAW members supported former President Trump in previous elections," Arthur Wheaton, the director of Labor Studies at Cornell University, told Newsweek. "Why risk fractures in union solidarity during a crucial bargaining period. No upside to endorsing now and plenty of potential downside in an extremely difficult bargaining time at the Detroit Three." Political consultant Jay Towsend said that while a UAW strike would be unlikely to damage Biden's image as a union supporter, the economic impact and turmoil that a labor action could cause would give his re-election campaign "a headache it does not need, especially in rust-belt states he must win."
UAW strike fund provides backstop to workers in event of automaker strike
August 28, 2023 // The fund totals more than $825 million, meaning the union could strike all three automakers for 12 weeks before its backstop is exhausted, according to Evercore ISI analysts. The strike fund is available to workers beginning after the eighth day of a strike to active members in good standing with the union. Yes, but: Strike pay equals only about 25% to 60% of UAW workers' typical compensation.
UAW workers overwhelmingly vote to authorize strikes at GM, Ford, Stellantis
August 25, 2023 // "The Big Three is our strike target. And whether or not there's a strike — it's up to Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, because they know what our priorities are. We've been clear," Fain has said. Those priorities are far richer than during prior contract negotiations between the two sides. The union's demands include a 46% wage increase, restoration of traditional pensions, cost-of-living increases, reducing the workweek to 32 hours from 40 and increasing retiree benefits. The UAW said 98% of hourly workers and 99% of salaried workers at Ford voted in favor of the strike authorization. GM passed by 96%, while the action was approved at Stellantis by 95%. Voter turnout and how many votes still needed to be counted was not immediately available.
Sen. John Fetterman, local leaders appear Monday at Erie UE rally attended by hundreds
August 24, 2023 // Fetterman, who concluded the rally with brief remarks, continued to display signs of the stroke he had in May of 2022. Some words came out haltingly and not necessarily in the order that the first-term senator might have intended. But Fetterman received a warm welcome from a friendly crowd as he pledged his continued support for their efforts. Fetterman, who has worked to raise money for the union strike fund, said "One of the most amazing and powerful things ever invented is called a union." UE 506 President Scott Slawson said Monday's crowd "speaks to the power of a U.S. senator." He also praised Fetterman for his support of the union at a time when he's working to overcome his own health challenges.
OPINION: FRANK RICCI: Paying People To Strike Makes No Sense
August 14, 2023 // Furthermore, a company’s unemployment experience rating is included as a fiscal cost factored into bids for state, municipal and private construction costs. Unemployment for striking workers will harm company ratings and place upward pressure on the price of goods, as well as our taxes. Rather than using its own funds to assist workers during a strike — a prime justification for its existence — the AFL-CIO is instead encouraging its members to contact their legislators to demand that they pass these bills so that taxpayers and businesses pick up the tab. This legislation places no restriction on union strike funds, so striking workers may collect funds from the unions as well. The result? Workers could be paid more to go and stay on strike than they would have made working — this will incentivize labor unrest.