Comment on this storyComment
As strikes against Detroit’s three major automakers enter their tenth day on Sunday, Democrats are praising President Biden’s scheduled visit to Michigan on Tuesday to show support for auto workers on the picket lines.
The White House announced the news Friday as members of the United Auto Workers walked out of 38 General Motors and Stellantis parts warehouses and distribution centers in 20 states. The strike escalation that spared Ford added an additional 5,600 workers to the walkout, for a total of 18,300 – about 12 percent of the union’s autoworker membership.
Biden’s visit to Michigan – likely the first time a sitting president has visited a strike in at least 100 years, according to labor experts – comes a day before his expected rival in the 2024 presidential race, former President Donald Trump, plans to make his strike speech in front of hundreds of union members in Michigan.
“President Biden is doing what he has always done, which is standing with American workers,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. Buttigieg defended the president’s decision to visit, adding that a strong deal would be a “win-win” for both parties: “Record profits should lead to record wages and record benefits for workers.”
On CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) also praised Biden’s trip as a “historic event” justified by the “crisis of inequality in our economy.”
Asked about the UAW leadership’s decision to withhold an endorsement for Biden for now, Ocasio-Cortez said, “It has to be earned,” adding, “President Biden is working toward that, especially when he lands in Michigan on Tuesday, to get that to earn.”
Progress north of the border
The strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis began September 15 at three automobile plants in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio that assemble the Ford Bronco, Chevrolet Colorado and Jeep Wrangler.
The expansion of Friday’s strike focused on warehouses that send parts to dealers and other locations for vehicle repairs. This move could increase pressure on General Motors and Stellantis as more American drivers seeking these parts could feel the impact of closed locations across the country: Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Orlando, Boston, Reno and beyond .
See where UAW workers are striking or being temporarily laid off
Negotiations between Ford and Unifor, the union that represents 5,400 Ford workers in Canada, run parallel to the UAW’s negotiations with the Big Three in the United States.
Unifor announced Sunday that 54 percent of workers voted to ratify a contract that provides nearly 20 percent wage increases over three years for production workers and the reinstatement of living allowances. Unifor said it is focused on reaching a deal with Ford first – a deal that could serve as a template for entering into discussions with General Motors and Stellantis.
Canadian Ford workers will receive a 10 percent wage increase in the first year of their contract, faster advancement to top pay, pension improvements and the first cost-of-living adjustments since 2008.
Talks on the U.S. side also continued with Ford on Sunday, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private negotiations. However, it was unclear whether the parties continued to meet with Stellantis and GM.
UAW President Shawn Fain said the union will not expand the strike against Ford for now because negotiations are progressing and the company has made additional concessions. This includes Ford’s agreement to bring wages back in line with the cost of living and offer new job security provisions. However, the union is continuing its current strike against a Ford plant in Michigan.
Ford, in turn, said Friday that it was “working diligently with the UAW to reach an agreement that rewards our workforce and allows Ford to invest in a vibrant and growing future.” Ford added: “While we are making progress in some areas, we still have significant gaps to close on the most important economic issues. “Ultimately, the issues are interrelated and must work together as part of an overall agreement that supports our shared success.”
The problem with wage levels
Fain said the reason for the new focus on warehouse workers is that they are often stuck on a lower pay scale than assembly plant workers, with those hired after 2015 paying a maximum of $25 an hour after eight years of work. Although GM has offered to move these workers to the highest wage level, the union also wants cost-of-living adjustments and other job security provisions for these workers.
Two striking UAW workers at the same plant, very different lives
On Friday, about a dozen workers demonstrated outside a GM parts plant in an industrial area of Rancho Cucamonga, California, that employs 72 people. They wore T-shirts that read “COLA and Fair Pay Now” and waved signs with slogans like “Saving the American Dream.”
One worker, Wornell Mitchell, said he has worked at GM for about five years and makes $55,000 a year, including bonuses and overtime. He called working at the warehouse “a labor-intensive job” that requires workers to be on their feet all day, with a 30-minute lunch break and an additional 20-minute break.
“Our wages do not reflect the company’s revenue,” said Mitchell, vice president of Local 6645. “They want to keep our wages low,” even though their CEOs and top officials are making money.
“I honestly think they’re out of touch with reality,” he said of business leaders. “They are not the ones doing the work” that their salary encourages.
The union is demanding a 36 percent wage increase over four years, improved pension benefits, more paid vacation and other benefits. Full-time UAW workers now earn $18 to $32 an hour, plus annual profit-sharing bonuses that have reached tens of thousands of dollars per worker over the past four years. Temporary workers earn $16 to $19 an hour and receive no bonuses.
All automakers are offering pay raises of about 20 percent over four years and other benefits that they say represent the best deals in decades. They argue that they cannot meet all of the UAW’s demands and remain viable companies able to invest in the new factories needed for the costly transition to electric vehicles.
GM called the escalation of the strike on Friday “unnecessary” and accused union leaders of “manipulating the bargaining process for their personal goals.”
“We have now presented five separate economic proposals that are historic,” the company said. The 20 percent increase in its latest offer would bring 85 percent of GM’s UAW workforce to a base wage of $82,000 a year by the end of the contract, the company said. It also offers two weeks of paid parental leave and other benefits.
Stellantis said it submitted a new offer with non-economic proposals I reached out to the UAW on Thursday but received no response. The company said its 20 percent wage increase offer would result in all full-time UAW employees earning between $80,000 and $96,000 annually by the end of their contract. The company also questioned “whether union leadership ever had an interest in reaching an agreement in a timely manner.”