US Labor Unions

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Sen. John Fetterman to Detroit Three auto execs: How many yachts do you need?

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) on Saturday joined striking autoworkers outside the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, with Fetterman saying he drove about five hours from Braddock, Pa., in his UAW-made Ford Bronco to get to the plant.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/09/17/sen-john-fetterman-to-detroit-three-auto-execs-how-many-yachts-do-you-need/?

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United Auto Workers threaten to expand targeted strike if there is no substantive progress by Friday

The United Auto Workers union is stepping up pressure on Detroit’s Big Three by threatening to expand its strike unless it sees major progress in contract negotiations by Friday.

https://apnews.com/article/strike-auto-workers-ford-gm-stellantis-f948704cce3d6dc9ca484142c5d0d98e?

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Vance talks strike

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said striking autoworkers "took it on the chin" during the industry's crisis 15 years ago and "deserve to get their end of the shake."

• Workers at a Stellantis assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio, were among the first to walk off the job.

Vance told Axios' Sophia Cai at our News Shapers event today that Detroit has deep, long-term problems and blamed the Biden administration's electric vehicle push.

• "The EV unit at Ford is a massive loss center. That's true for the Big Three auto manufacturers," Vance argued.

Watch the event.

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Jeep maker Stellantis makes a new contract offer as auto workers prepare to expand their strike

General Motors and Stellantis announced fresh layoffs Wednesday that they blamed on damage from the United Auto Workers strike, and the labor standoff grew more tense just two days before the union was expected to call for new walkouts.

https://apnews.com/article/strike-auto-workers-ford-gm-stellantis-dce8eb39a1e36f2cc54a5c1e4210e1f3?

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Detroit's slow-motion wreck

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

There's zero chance the automakers will reach a labor deal with the UAW by tomorrow at noon, sources close to the bargaining tell Axios. That's the time at which the union says it plans to kick off strikes at additional factories. Why it matters: With both sides dug in, a prolonged strike is looking more likely, Axios' Joann Muller writes from Detroit. The union could continue the selective strike strategy that began last week, by ordering targeted walkouts at engine or transmission plants, slowly starving other factories of critical components. Or it could go straight for the jugular, by striking factories that build the companies' most profitable vehicles — full-size pickup trucks. Between the lines: A slow squeeze appears most likely, based on the union's rhetoric to date. UAW President Shawn Fain said in a video message to members: "We're going to keep hitting the company where we need to, when we need to. And we're not going to keep waiting around forever while they drag this out." The other side: GM President Mark Reuss, in an op-ed in the Detroit Free Press, clapped back at what he called UAW "misinformation," saying the company has made a record offer, and that "often in these situations, the clouds of rhetoric can obscure reality." 🛻 Threat level: So far in the labor dispute, the UAW has been holding back its most powerful weapon — shutting down pickup truck production. Striking these plants would have a devastating effect on the companies. Large pickups built in North America are the "profit engines" for Detroit automakers, accounting for "substantially all of the profit at GM and Ford," according to a recent Barclays note. With an average selling price of $65,500, the Ford F-series, Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra and Ram truck model lines generate an estimated $15,000 profit per vehicle, per Barclays.

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Confused Automakers Braced for Strike at the Wrong Plants

As the United Auto Workers kept the big three automakers guessing about the union’s strike plans, the car manufacturers made a failed effort to head off the effects of the unprecedented labor action. Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis stalled production and moved parts out of plants across the country, according to rank-and-file workers, self-inflicting financial damage that could have been avoided by meeting workers’ demands. 

https://theintercept.com/2023/09/19/uaw-strike-auto-plants/

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Trump says he always had autoworkers’ backs. Union leaders say his first-term record shows otherwise

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — When former President Donald Trump visits Detroit next week, he’ll be looking to blunt criticisms from a United Auto Workers union leadership that has said a second term for him would be a “disaster” for workers.

https://apnews.com/article/labor-union-auto-workers-trump-strike-dfcb805fd4e749b13aaf827e1463da73?

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🚘 UAW twists knife

The United Auto Workers union is expanding its strike against GM and Stellantis one week into its work stoppage, Axios' Joann Muller and Nathan Bomey write.

• Why it matters: The additional work stoppages — including all 38 parts distribution centers at GM and Stellantis — turn up the heat on the Detroit automakers.

UAW President Shawn Fain said the company had made "serious" progress at Ford, where it won't expand the strike.

• He also specifically invited President Biden to join the picket line as the strike continues.

Keep reading.

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Auto workers expand their strike to 38 locations in 20 states. Biden plans visit to show support

The United Auto Workers union expanded its strike against major carmakers Friday, walking out of all 38 parts-distribution centers operated by General Motors and Jeep and Ram owner Stellantis in 20 states but sparing Ford from further shutdowns.

https://apnews.com/article/uaw-ford-stellantis-general-motors-strike-labor-4132aa222c9a4456415af480d6fafa98?

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Rick Haglund: Decline of wages, jobs and Detroit Three market share fuel UAW strike

As President Barack Obama’s “car czar” in 2009, Steven Rattner played a crucial role in saving the collapsing domestic auto industry.

https://michiganadvance.com/2023/09/21/rick-haglund-decline-of-wages-jobs-and-detroit-three-market-share-fuel-uaw-strike/?

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UAW strike scrambles political allegiances

The United Auto Workers strike against the Big Three domestic automakers comes at a volatile time in American politics, with blue-collar union workers set to be a pivotal constituency for both parties in next year's election.

Why it matters: Democrats have historically been the party of labor unions, while Republicans have maintained close ties to big business. But as Democrats have become increasingly reliant on college-educated voters, their close alliance with blue-collar unions has frayed.

• UAW president Shawn Fain has withheld an endorsement for President Biden — even as Biden has positioned himself as the most pro-union president in U.S. history.
• Meanwhile, as more blue-collar voters migrate toward the GOP (typically over cultural issues), the party has faced pressure to accommodate their more populist views on the economy.

Driving the news: Biden announced last week he would be joining the picket line Tuesday, days after former President Trump made plans to meet with striking autoworkers and deliver a speech Wednesday in Michigan counterprogramming the GOP presidential debate.

• One Democratic strategist said Biden's lockstep alliance with the UAW is risky if there's a protracted strike: "If this situation goes south, it sends a real blow to his economic narrative," the operative told Axios.
• For Trump, making a direct appeal to striking workers would have been unthinkable for Republicans in the Bush era. (In 2008, now-Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) wrote a New York Times op-ed headlined: "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.")

Between the lines: The one labor-related issue in which UAW leaders hew closer to Republicans is their skepticism over the government-directed push toward electric vehicles.

• Electric vehicles require less labor to produce, and the jobs are predominantly non-union.
• "The backdrop of this strike is over electric vehicles," Republican strategist Brad Todd said. "Republican voters and Republican business owners are not on the side of car company managers teaming up with government for electric vehicle mandates and regulations."

By the numbers: Trump only lost union households by eight points (51%-43%) in 2016, a result that helped him tip traditionally Democratic Rust Belt states Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin into the GOP column.

• But Biden reclaimed those states in 2020 while winning union households by 16 points (56%-40%), according to exit polling.
• A near majority (43%) of Americans want unions to "have more influence than they have today" — the highest share recorded in at least a quarter-century, according to an August Gallup survey.

What to watch: Several of the biggest Senate races are taking place in states with a robust blue-collar union presence — including Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

• Democratic senators representing states with a sizable manufacturing presence, such as Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), have underscored their pro-union bona fides since the UAW strike began.
• Several Senate GOP challengers, meanwhile, are more traditionally conservative candidates without a history of populist rhetoric — like former hedge fund executive Dave McCormick, who just announced his candidacy in Pennsylvania.

The bottom line: For both parties, the political incentives going forward run against their instincts.

• It's in Biden's interest, for example, to urge his UAW allies to reach a compromise with management to prevent any economic slowdown that could result from a prolonged strike.
• Meanwhile, Republicans are confident they can more closely sympathize with the strikers without suffering any political consequences, given that Biden is president.

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UAW Files Labor Complaint Against Sen. Tim Scott for Saying “You Strike, You’re Fired.”

“Telling workers they’ll be fired for striking is violating federal labor law, and that’s not something becoming of a senator.”

https://theintercept.com/2023/09/21/uaw-strike-tim-scott/?

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Biden urges striking auto workers to ‘stick with it’ in picket line visit unparalleled in history

VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — President Joe Biden grabbed a bullhorn on the picket line Tuesday and urged striking auto workers to “stick with it” in an unparalleled show of support for organized labor by a modern president.

https://apnews.com/article/president-joe-biden-strike-united-auto-workers-8ecc84eeca15c99673f31bdac6921f7b?

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Big Three Automakers’ Reputations Plummet as UAW Strike Rages

Two weeks into the largest auto strike in U.S. history, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis face a falling approval rating from consumers, a new survey shows.

https://theintercept.com/2023/09/26/uaw-strike-big-three-reputation/?

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United Auto Workers strikes spread as 7,000 more workers at two plants join the picket line

DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union expanded strikes against Detroit automakers Friday, ordering 7,000 more workers to walk off the job in Illinois and Michigan to put more pressure on the companies to improve their offers.

https://apnews.com/article/autoworkers-detroit-general-motors-stellantis-ford-e2c78274333bea20856b90126a6b831c?

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YOU LOVE TO SEE IT: Baristas Win Back Pay

Good things are happening! Starbucks workers win a major court ruling, the Hollywood writers’ strike closes with a tentative contract, nurses in Maine take a stand on public utilities, and the federal government steps in to protect childrens’ public health insurance.

https://www.levernews.com/you-love-to-see-it-baristas-win-back-pay/

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🚙 Autoworker angst could dog Biden

Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photos: Emily Elconin/Bloomberg, Chip Somodevilla, Scott Olson via Getty Images

DEARBORN, Mich. — Detroit-area autoworkers tell Axios' Sophia Cai they're deeply worried about the industry's future — and some resent both President Biden and former President Trump for using the UAW strike as a campaign backdrop. Why it matters: That dissatisfaction — along with anxiety about inflation and apathy about the 2024 elections — are particularly bad signs for Biden, who won Michigan in 2020 and desperately needs a repeat to win re-election. State of play: Biden won nearly 60% of union members' votes in 2020, according to AFL-CIO estimates and exit polls. Keep reading.

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Stellantis Diversity Groups Mobilize to Provide Scab Labor at Auto Parts Plants

The automaker’s Business Resource Groups have responded to the company’s call for volunteers at plants affected by the UAW strike.

https://theintercept.com/2023/10/10/uaw-auto-strike-stellantis/?

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Union power rising

Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Includes lockouts. Based on year stoppage began. Workers are counted for each stoppage they are involved in per year.) Chart: Tory Lysik/Axios More than 330,000 American workers — from Hollywood actors to medical technicians — have been part of strikes since the start of September, Axios' April Rubin and Tory Lysik report from Cornell's labor tracker. Why it matters: Labor unions enjoying their highest approval ratings in generations are deploying hardball tactics in far-reaching sectors of the economy. 🧮 By the numbers: The number of workers on strike has increased nearly 10-fold since 2021, according to the Cornell data. Jan. 1 to Oct. 11, 2021: 188 strikes involving about 47,800 workers. Jan. 1 to Oct. 11, 2022: 345 strikes involving about 126,800 workers. Jan. 1 to Oct. 11, 2023: 318 strikes involving about 468,200 workers. 🖼️ The big picture: Before the 1980s, more than a million workers regularly went on strike annually. Between 2000 and 2017, the average number of workers on strike shrunk to about 100,000 per year. Data: Cornell Labor Action Tracker. Chart: Tory Lysik/Axios Visuals Ongoing strikes: The United Auto Workers union said last week that it could expand the strike against Detroit's Big Three automakers "at any time" — a shift for the union, which had been announcing new locations on Fridays. UAW: Nearly 34,000 UAW members are participating in a strike against the Detroit Three automakers. The strike began on Sept. 15 with 13,000 workers. SAG-AFTRA: The actors guild, which represents 160,000 members, has been on strike since July. Actors and major studios suspended contract talks on Friday. Recent strikes: Two large-scale strikes — screenwriters and health care workers — ended in the past month. Writers Guild of America: 11,500+ striking TV and film writers became eligible to work last month after a 148-day-long walkout. Kaiser Permanente: About 75,000 people who work for the nation's largest nonprofit health system went on strike for three days last week — the largest health worker strike in U.S. history. The unions and company said last week that they had reached a tentative labor agreement. Explore the data ...

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Ford Executive Chair Bill Ford calls on autoworkers to end strike, says company’s future is at stake

DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford on Monday called on autoworkers to come together to end a monthlong strike that he says could cost the company the ability to invest in the future.

https://apnews.com/article/bill-ford-executive-chairman-uaw-contract-talks-27b702b36599bf1706e1c692ccfda1c6?

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🚙 UAW's Fain paves new path for labor left

Photo illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain has emerged from the union's strike against the Detroit Three automakers on a powerful pedestal that he can use to influence the future of the American workforce. Why it matters: Fain went from little-known rabble-rouser to corporate conqueror in less than a year — at the helm of an organization just recovering from a moral crisis involving funds embezzlement, Axios' Nathan Bomey reports. With relentless anti-executive rhetoric, the supremely quotable 55-year-old native of Kokomo, Ind., led a six-week strike at GM, Ford and Stellantis that ended with record contracts for 150,000 UAW members. The union won a 25% raise over nearly five years, the elimination of a two-tier wage system, the return of cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), increased retirement benefits and the right to strike over plant closures. 🖼️ The big picture: Fain's salt-of-the-earth sensibility set a new tone for a union reeling from a corruption scandal that left two of his predecessors imprisoned for embezzling union dues. He wears hoodies, fleeces and T-shirts; talks directly to union members on Facebook; and speaks passionately about his Christian faith while at the same time quoting Malcolm X. 🔎 Between the lines: Fain is carving a new path for a union that was closely associated with liberals and secularism. Fain regularly quotes the Bible, talks about his daily devotional readings and emphasizes that the union is a family — qualities that could help him appeal to prospective members in the Bible Belt. Fain has withheld the union's endorsement of President Biden, even after Biden visited a UAW picket line. 💬 Tim Smith, director of UAW Region 8 — which includes Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina — said Fain's approach is helping to change the tide in the South. "We've had a tremendous amount of calls coming in from Toyota" workers wanting to unionize in Kentucky, Smith tells Axios. 🐘 Republican rhetoric toward the UAW has softened. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) were among conservatives visiting UAW picket lines.

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New rule would make it easier for millions of Americans to unionize, but businesses are pushing back

A new federal rule that goes into effect next month could make it easier for millions of workers to form unions at big companies like McDonald’s. But it’s already facing significant pushback from businesses and some members of Congress.

https://apnews.com/article/joint-employer-nlrb-mcdonalds-labor-franchisees-amazon-rule-de968c9479de5845e3e0e422404ff6f3?

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🧐 Union has union trouble

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

Labor unrest is so intense this year that even labor unions are facing internal staff rebellions. The field staff of the National Education Association (NEA), the teachers' union, voted unanimously yesterday to authorize a strike. State of play: The NEA is the largest union in the country, representing about 3 million education professionals from preschool to graduate school — and its tiny staff of 48 employees has been without a contract since May 2023. The union is asking for raises to catch up with inflation, and says the NEA hasn't made bargaining a priority. 🔭 Zoom out: The vote by the Association of Field Service Employees is the latest sign of the strong labor resurgence. The AFL-CIO is facing similar issues with the union that represents its staff.

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Airline Unions Aim To Preserve Sky-High Credit Card Fees

To safeguard airline reward programs, some industry unions are splitting with their labor colleagues and teaming up with big banks.

https://www.levernews.com/airline-unions-aim-to-preserve-sky-high-credit-card-fees/?

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What happens if Miami-Dade teachers in FL don’t reach their union’s threshold for membership?

The largest education union in Florida is facing the ramifications of new legislation meant to make labor organizing for public workers more difficult.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/11/21/what-happens-if-miami-dade-teachers-in-fl-dont-reach-their-unions-threshold-for-membership/?