In the days leading up to the end of the last contract; UAW President, Shaun Fein, announced that for the first time the union would go on strike at all three automakers at the same time. The UAW would use a new strategy they claimed was in honor of the Flint Sit-Down Strikes that formed the UAW in 1937 called the “Stand Up Strike”. This strategy was hailed by the two main trends in the labor movement as “bold” while ultra-left elements deemed it “phony class-collaboration”, in our view it was neither. The “Stand Up Strike” strategy was one of necessity. The UAW had branched out and organized industries outside of Detroit’s “Big 3” with well over a dozen strikes in the country throughout the year—mostly in higher education. This factor led to the union needing to conserve their strike fund as much as possible making the “Stand Up Strike” a strategic necessity.

The goal of the strike was to keep the automakers guessing on what locations would walk off the job throughout the course of the strike. This had mixed results as the companies caught on to the initial calls to “Stand Up” which were announced around noon on Fridays. The UAW then made the proper adjustments and started to more randomly make the call for locations to “Stand Up” including while at the negotiating table at Ford’s headquarters when they called on the 8700 worker Kentucky Truck Plant to walk off the job after a low-ball offer. This triggered the escalation of the strike to the largest factories of the “Big 3” which ultimately lead to the automakers to cave. This started with Ford, who agreed to terms on October 25^th, followed by Stellantis on October 28^th and GM on October 30^th.

Throughout the course of the strike—and since—Shaun Fein has used a more class-oriented rhetoric than the typical union leader. This combined with an ability to understand the conditions they faced, including withholding the union’s Presidential endorsement which pressured President Biden to uncharacteristically walk a picket line with rank-and-file members, offered a progressive step forward for the labor movement. Even the call for workers at Ford to return to work before contract ratification—a move we would oppose in most cases—was a strategic move that added pressure to Stellantis and GM to agree to similar terms, including Stellantis agreeing to reopen the shuttered Belvidere plant. Of course all the union’s demands were not met; but the contract represented gains unseen in the labor movement for decades.

The UAW used the momentum from the strike to kick off an organizing campaign at the non-unionized auto manufacturers in the U.S. They’ve seen early gains, most notably at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TN where as of February 6^th they had more than 50% on the workers sign union authorization cards. They’ve also seen progress at both Mercedes and Hyundai in Alabama where despite union-busting pressure from the state’s Commerce Secretary they’ve surpassed 30% of the workers sign union authorization cards.

Shaun Fein hasn’t limited his organizing calls to UAW either, upon ratification he called on all unions to align the ending of their contracts with UAW’s (April 30, 2028) to create the potential of a mass National Strike at contract’s end. This call is key for the union’s demand for a 32-hour work week which is virtually unwinnable without a mass movement behind it. This call, if it works, can prove to be a clever circumvention of the Taft-Hartley Act’s ban on a General Strike. Overall, the Stand Up Strike and its results are a positive first step to building a mass class-oriented trade union movement. For this to happen me need the most militant class-oriented trade unionists sections of labor and the working class at large to join the call to cultivate the rank-and-file to a higher class consciousness necessary to fort a mass organizing campaign within all of the working class. We cannot rest on our laurels and stick to the currently organized labor movement; we need to build on this momentum to organize the unorganized. The time is now for workers to stand up and fight for a truly class-oriented trade union movement.

The post EDITORIAL: UAW Stand Up Strike Potential Spark to Launch a New Militant Class-Oriented Trade Union Movement first appeared on Labor Today.

The supposedly “union-friendly” Biden administration, as well as UAW president Shawn Fain, are hailing the contract as a historic victory, and to a casual observer, the contract does seem to provide many large wins, including: 11% immediate raise, 25% over 4 years (workers initially asked for 40%), reinstated cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), elimination of a “two-tier” wage system, decreasing time to top pay from 8 years to 3 years, increased funding of the pension plan, and the right to strike over plant closures. This last one will be critical as plants continue to threaten to move overseas. Also, there is a fear some plants will be closed, moved to less union-friendly states, or otherwise re-shuffled in the push to create Electric Vehicles.

Part of the problem, according to workers at the Louisville plant and others who have rejected similar contracts, is that during the financial crisis of 2007, workers made many concessions and so, are still doing significantly worse than they were before 2007. Specifically, workers hired after 2007 were denied pensions and retiree health benefits. These contracts failed to adequately address this issue. In fact, when adjusted for inflation, it will take 3 more years for the top wage to reach where it was in the early 2000s. Some workers point out that in the 1960s, it was possible to raise a family on one parent’s income from the auto factory, and those days are largely gone. By rejecting this contract, Ford workers in Louisville are saying they are tired of being forced to pay for the crisis caused by the bankers and big business.

Many have positively compared new UAW president Shawn Fain to post-war president Walter Reuther due to his more militant rhetoric. Workers in Louisville, however, have been more critical possibly signaling he’s more similar to the Reuther who helped change the Congress of Industrial Organizations (C.I.O.) away from a militant class-oriented trade unionism to the business unionism that led to its merger into the AFL-CIO than the one who led the UAW during its strongest period. Workers rejecting a similar contract at Stellantis in Michigan complain that Fain “dropped their demands” for company paid pensions and retiree health benefits. KTP workers say that Fain sent them back to work before the vote was even held showing a lack of seriousness on his part to hold Ford bosses’ feet to the fire. KTP workers also point out that managers inside the factory have been speeding up processes and employees are threatened with write-ups for interruptions. There have also reportedly been issues with inaccurate checks and difficulties getting overtime pay.

Although the Ford contract passed with 69.3% ratifying, in Louisville, these workers have shown that they are fed up with years of being over-worked and underpaid, and they are willing to carry on the proud tradition of past generations of labor activists to put themselves on the line and demand what they are owed. The “Stand Up” Strike of September and October resulted in the current contract which definitely has some wins. According to workers at KTP however there is still has a ways to go to bringing current workers to the standards that those past generations were at. The Kentucky Truck Plant is one of the country’s most profitable plants (they were called to strike on October 11^th) and the strikes cost the auto industry billions of dollars. These workers know what they are worth, that these billions of dollars of earnings are not possible without their labor. We at Labor Today support these workers in their continued struggle.

Photo Credit: Chris Otts, WDRB

The post UAW Rank-and-File Members at Ford Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville Vote Against Contract Despite Ratification first appeared on Labor Today.

After failing to reach a negotiated agreement this summer between the union and the companies, on September 15, 2023 the UAW initiated a simultaneous strike at one assembly plant at each company of the Big Three Detroit automakers. As negotiations over a contract have dragged on, the union has been picking up traction and extending the strike to further locations around the country. The UAW has since taken the fight to the Big Three’s most profitable facilities. First hitting Ford’s truck plant in Louisville KY and then moving on to Stellantis’ assembly plant in Sterling Heights MI. Then, in response to GM announcing record profits for its third quarter earnings, the union moved to also shut down GM’s assembly plant in Arlington TX.  

According to the consulting firm Anderson Economic Group, the strike’s fifth week has roughly cost the U.S. auto industry a collective $9.3 billion, or, as reported by the Louisville Courier-Journal, $30 million per day, a stark reminder to workers and shareholders everywhere as to who the credit behind a company’s profits can rightly be attributed. In response to the ongoing strike the Big Three have initiated layoffs totaling around 7,000 workers, an ironic turn of events for companies who envision themselves to be “job creators”. As usual, the companies’ statements to the press on the matter have been claiming they presented the union with a fair deal and that the strike is “unnecessary and irresponsible”. Unfortunately for them tens of thousands of their own employees clearly seem to disagree. UAW’s president Shawn Fain recently announced that the strike will continue because there is “more to be won”.  

Then, suddenly, to many peoples surprise, on October 25^th UAW reached a tentative agreement and won a major contract with Ford, the company which employs the most UAW members. The agreement includes an 11% immediate raise with a 25% raise over the life of the 4-year contract, reinstated COLAs, an elimination of the two-tier-pay system, a reduction of progression to top pay from 8 years to 3 years, increased funding of workers’ pension plans, and, hugely, the right to strike over plant closures. The contract won is a momentous achievement for the employees, namely due to it featuring more raises than the workers received for the last 22 years combined. In the week that followed, UAW reached similar agreements with both General Motors and Stellantis, only time will tell if the membership will accept these agreements. This turn of events constitutes a great victory for not only UAW workers, but for labor everywhere. Valuable lessons have been learned through this struggle, through bitter experience, to which labor will have to learn from in order to prepare for the battles that lay ahead. For, although this battle has been won, the war carries on. 

The post UAW Strike Sign of Increasing Class Struggle in US first appeared on Labor Today.