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UAW locals get marching orders for strike against Big Three [1]
['Lindsay Moore', 'Lmoore Mlive.Com']
Date: 2023-09-15 02:10:38.246000+00:00
The United Auto Workers officially have their marching orders. The countdown is on to determine if they will follow them through.
At 10 p.m. on Thursday, UAW President Shawn Fain announced three locals were selected to start the strike at midnight. Those locals represent Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio and General Motors Wentzville Assembly Center in Missouri.
Unlike previous strikes, the UAW is strategically selecting local union chapters to strike automakers on a rolling basis rather than a full walk out of all members. The union is also going after all three companies rather than picking one target.
The contract between the UAW and Ford, Stellantis and General Motors expires at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 14. Fain has repeatedly said the union will not grant an extension if an agreement is not met by the deadline. Bargaining will pause temporarily on Friday, Sept. 15, so Fain and UAW leadership can join picket lines.
For the first time in union history all three companies came to the UAW’s Solidarity House downtown Detroit, Fain said.
All three automakers have made multiple counteroffers but none of been accepted. Fain says the companies were slow to come to the table at the beginning of negotiations.
The UAW filed bad faith bargaining claims against General Motors and Stellantis for allegedly not offering counter offers in a timely matter. Both companies say the claim is baseless.
In a Thursday statement touting General Motors’ latest offer CEO Mary Barra added, “Remember: We had a strike in 2019 and nobody won.”
A major talking point has been the 40% wage increase the UAW stuck to throughout negotiations. The increase comes from the estimated pay raise the CEOs have received since the last contract was ratified.
General Motors last offer was 20% over four and a half years with a 10% bump in the first year. Ford was also at 20% and Stellantis came in at 17.5% over the life of the contract.
Ford’s CEO Jim Farley took to cable news on Thursday night saying the wage hike in addition to shortened work weeks would put the company into bankruptcy.
“You want us to choose bankruptcy over supporting our workers,” said Farley, in a CNBC interview.
Other UAW demands that were not satisfied at the bargaining table included:
Eliminate tiers on wages and benefits by implementing a 90-day progression to the top pay rate.
Restore cost-of-living allowances to keep up with inflation. This was a concession during the 2009 negotiation.
Establish a defined benefit pension for all workers.
Reestablish retiree medical benefits.
Ensure the right to strike over plant closures.
Create a working family protection program.
Make all temporary workers permanent after 90 days.
More paid time off.
Significantly increase retiree pay.
32-hour work week.
Related: A UAW strike is looming, but how did we get here
Over the course of negotiations local unions have organized their own events from spirit days to barbecues. More than 100 local actions were organized in the last month, Fain said.
Thursday night he said “everything is on the table.”
“If we need to go all out, we will.”
During a Wednesday night UAW Facebook Live with Fain many members commented they wanted to all walk out together. Fain told members a simultaneous strike wasn’t off the table but an escalating strike would keep the companies on their toes.
“This is going to provide your national negotiators with incredible leverage at the bargaining table,” Fain said. “If the company has given us an insulting offer, if they keep playing in games, if they refuse to bargain in good faith, then we have the power to keep escalating and keep taking plants out.”
Fain described the historic strike as a Stand Up strike, drawing a parallel to the sit down strikes that lasted for 44 days in Flint from 1936 to 1937.
“Just as in the 1930s, we’re living in a time of stunning inequality throughout our society,” Fain said. “We’re living in a time where our industry is undergoing massive transformations. And we’re living in a time where our labor movement is redefining itself.”
Local unions not called to strike were told to continue working. Bargaining will continue meaning non-striking workers will be working under an expired contract.
The UAW’s legal counsel, attorney Ben Dictor, detailed management’s legal obligation to maintain the status quo in terms of wages, workload, job assignments and more. He advised union activists to be on the lookout for any unilateral changes made by management.
Non-striking union members were discouraged from “partially” striking or doing work slowly or refusing work, including mandatory overtime. Workers are allowed to refuse voluntary overtime, the UAW said.
They were also told not to distribute information that disparage the quality of the company’s products, damage company property or threaten company employees. Police were called to picket lines in Flint during the 2019 strike against General Motors after union members blocked trucks entering the plant.
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