The UAW’s new president, Shawn Fain, is taking a hard line on contract negotiations with Detroit’s big three automakers, and the membership is following suit. The union’s members voted overwhelmingly to approve strike action, should negotiations fall apart.
Of the 150,000 GM, Ford, and Stellantis workers represented by the UAW, 97 percent of voters chose to authorize a strike. The vote does not guarantee that workers will walk off the line, but is a sign that they are prepared to if a deal cannot be reached by the September 14 negotiation deadline.
Among the demands being made by the union are wage increases “to offset inflation and match the generous salary increases of company executives over the last four years,” the elimination of tiered wages and benefits, the reestablishment of cost-of-living allowances and defined benefit pensions and retiree healthcare, as well as the right to strike over plant closures, among others.
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“Our members’ expectations are high because Big Three profits are so high. The Big Three made a combined $21 billion in profits in just the first six months of this year. That’s on top of the quarter-trillion dollars in North American profits they made over the last decade,” said Fain. “While Big Three executives and shareholders got rich, UAW members got left behind. Our message to the Big Three is simple: record profits mean record contracts.”
Fain has been particularly stern during this round of contract negotiations, taking the exceptional decision not to shake hands with automaker CEOs before bargaining. He has also refused to negotiate in secret, and has chosen to announce the union’s core economic demands publicly.
The decision follows years of controversy at the union, whose former leadership was accused of corruption and collusion with automaker executives. Fain’s hard talk appears to have united the UAW, with 95 percent of Stellantis workers, 96 percent of GM workers, and 98 percent of Ford workers voting to approve a strike if one is deemed necessary.
