{"id":104,"date":"2023-12-11T18:53:39","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T18:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/?p=104"},"modified":"2023-12-11T18:53:39","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T18:53:39","slug":"uaw-union-self-destructing-its-jobs-in-ev-craze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/uaw-union-self-destructing-its-jobs-in-ev-craze\/","title":{"rendered":"UAW UNION SELF DESTRUCTING ITS JOBS IN EV CRAZE"},"content":{"rendered":"

United Auto Workers president\u00a0 and MARXIST, Shawn Fain wore a T-shirt reading \u201cEat the Rich\u201d and a deadly serious stare when he announced a major development in the union\u2019s monthlong strike<\/a>: General Motors agreed to include its electric vehicle and battery factories in the forthcoming labor contract. That deal will cover 6,000 employees at four coming GM battery plants.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been told for months this is impossible,\u201d Fain said during the October 6 livestream. \u201cWe have been told the EV future must be a race to the bottom. We called their bluff.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Fain has made anything clear, it is that he, and the 383,000 people he leads, are not bluffing. In the two weeks since GM\u2019s concession, the union has redoubled its efforts to win similar agreements from Ford and Stellantis. Last week, every one of the 8,700 workers at Ford\u2019s massive Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville joined the picket line, halting production of the company\u2019s line of Super Duty pickup trucks.<\/p>\n

GM\u2019s promise to unionize its EV and battery operations comes after automakers sold 300,000 EVs in the previous quarter, and everyone involved in the labor dispute feels the electric transition is all but inevitable. The strike has increased pressure on the Big Three to include their electrification ventures in the master contracts they hold with United Auto Workers, or UAW. It also could press other automakers to increase pay or agree to unionize if they hope to compete for workers.<\/p>\n

Fain has made negotiating stronger contracts, including cost-of-living adjustments and four-day workweeks, a priority since his election in March. He also has castigated the Big Three\u2019s battery factories for their low wages. When contract negotiations stalled, UAW members went on strike on September 14. There are now 34,000 autoworkers on strike nationwide, a number that is likely to grow as negotiations drag on.<\/p>\n

Dianne Feeley is a retired autoworker who, like other UAW retirees, remains an active and voting union member. She says the rank and file spent 40 years working toward this moment, a fight that started as years of stagnation and corruption kept the UAW from moving forward. That led to a band of members launching United All Workers for Democracy<\/a>, which expanded members\u2019 rights to participate in bargaining and helped propel Fain to into leadership. It\u2019s also helped conversations about the EV transition and its impact on workers come to the fore.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis [UAW] administration has said, \u2018Yes, let\u2019s do electric vehicles, but there has to be a just transition.\u2019 Whereas the old leadership, they didn\u2019t even want to hear about electric vehicles,\u201d Feeley said.<\/p>\n

Beyond ensuring that the workers assembling electric vehicles are paid the same as those assembling conventional cars, the risks inherent in battery production are a major concern to union members. Safety issues at GM\u2019s Ultium Cells battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio, led to the factory\u2019s unionization earlier this year. An explosion and fire there in March prompted an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Its inquiry, released last week, found 17 violations<\/a>, including inadequate respiratory protection equipment, emergency showers, and eye-washing stations. OSHA could levy $270,000 in fines.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been sounding the alarm for months about Ultium and these high-risk, high-skill EV battery operations,\u201d Fain said in a statement to Grist. \u201cThis is dangerous work that deserves to be compensated well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pay at Ultium has risen by $3 to $4 an hour since the union vote in December, even though workers do not yet have a formal contract. The master agreements the UAW holds with General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis await ratification, so none of the union\u2019s recent victories are certain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little too soon to pop the bubbly and have champagne and celebrate, but it\u2019s all good news,\u201d said Arthur Wheaton, director of the Labor Studies department at Cornell University.<\/p>\n

The fact GM is ahead of its domestic competitors when it comes to EV battery production played a role in its recent concession, Wheaton said. GM had already planned to phase out gas-powered vehicles<\/a> by 2035. The UAW\u2019s success at the Ultium plant, and more broadly within GM, could have an impact even beyond union shops, given the ongoing labor shortage and a need to stay competitive when attracting workers, especially when there is some evidence<\/a> that EV plants will not, as some believe, require fewer workers. Auto industry analysts say any wage increases resulting from the strike will likely pressure large, stridently anti-union manufacturers like Tesla, which pays significantly less than the Detroit automakers, to raise wages<\/a> in the hope that it forestalls the risk of unionizing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you get a big pay raise for GM and Ford, then many \u2014 not all \u2014 of the automakers will raise their wages to make sure they don\u2019t get unionized,\u201d Wheaton said.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you\u2019ll see that in the battery sector as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

GM\u2019s concession was far from assured. The Big Three co-own their battery plants with foreign companies<\/a>, like Ultium, which GM co-owns with the Korean company LG Energy Solutions. These joint-venture plants are not automatically covered by existing UAW labor agreements, because they are what\u2019s called a \u201cpermissive\u201d part of those contracts that do not require either side to negotiate the terms of their operation.<\/p>\n

THEIR SHORT TERM DUMB THINKING WILL PUT THE EV MANUFACTURERS OUT OF BUSINESS SINCE THE PUBLIC WILL NOT BE BUYING VEHICLES THAT COST MORE THAN WHAT HOMES USED TO COST AND HAVE $15,000 COST TO REPLACE THEIR BATTERIES.<\/p>\n

The workers can hardly afford new EV’s….so who else is going to buy them<\/p>\n

BEING IN\u00a0 A UNION, ESPECIALLY IN THE UAW, IS A SELF DESTRUCTIVE JOB.<\/p>\n

Truck drivers lost jobs when their overburdened trucking companies could no longer compete against non union ones.<\/p>\n

These jobs will likewise go into the rabbit hole.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, EVs have not had the same focus as other parts of the contract negotiations, despite the central role the cars, and the batteries powering them, will play in the future of both automakers and the men and women they employ. GM, Stellantis, and Ford had consistently claimed that conceding to UAW\u2019s demands would make them less competitive against foreign automakers in the burgeoning EV market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why [UAW was] happy to get GM, because they use what they call \u2018pattern bargaining,\u2019\u201d Wheaton said, referring to a labor strategy<\/a>, pioneered in part by autoworkers, that uses prior organizing wins to pressure other employers into take-it-or-leave-it offers. It may also bring the union fight back to an old battleground as EV battery plants open in an expanding \u201cBattery Belt\u201d<\/a> spanning the right-to-work South, where several foreign automakers, including Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen, operate factories.<\/p>\n

The UAW has struggled to organize Southern factories like the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which builds the electric ID.4. In a staggering loss considered a massive failure<\/a> for the union\u2019s organization efforts in the South, Volkswagen workers rejected<\/a> union membership in 2019. Fain told Grist that the union has since the beginning of the strike been fielding calls from non-union autoworkers, \u201cfrom the West to the Midwest and especially in the South,\u201d indicating organizing priorities beyond the current contract fight.<\/p>\n

THE WORKERS IN THE SOUTH ARE MUCH SMARTER THAN THOSE IN MICHIGAN…THEY DO NOT WANT TO SUPPORT BLOATED UNION LEADERS, AND UNION MALARKEY AND POLITICAL DONATIONS ONLY TO DEMOCRATS WHO HAVE CAUSED THE PROBLEM NATIONWIDE.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at organizing half a dozen auto companies in the coming years,\u201d he said. \u201cPretty soon we won\u2019t just be talking about the Big Three \u2014 more like Big Five, Big Seven, Big Ten unionized automakers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes destroy every one else jobs too!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an opportune time for UAW, since Inflation Reduction Act funds are only just now flowing to EV manufacturing. The money comes with stipulations that have been favorable to the union\u2019s cause, in particular incentives for manufacturing everything from solar panels to EV batteries domestically with union labor. Because the allocations are just beginning to flow, many factories aren\u2019t yet online, so hiring won\u2019t start for a while. That gives unions like the UAW time to organize, with help from environmental groups. The Blue-Green Alliance, for example, has worked to bring labor and climate interests together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Big Three have argued that there has to be a choice between paying autoworkers at family-sustaining union wages and benefits, and making the shift to EV production at a pace and scale that will meet both consumer demand and the climate crisis,\u201d said Jason Walsh, the organization\u2019s executive director. \u201cWe think that that\u2019s a false choice. They can do both. And the agreement with GM suggests that they now recognize they have to do both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feeley had similar thoughts when she decided to support the strike. She believes the EV transition must be equitable and just \u2014 not just now, but decades from now, because \u201cone generation comes to the plant after another.\u201d When autoworkers demand fair treatment and better pay, they do so not just for themselves, but for the children and grandchildren who will build the cars of the future.<\/p>\n

Fain has made negotiating stronger contracts, including cost-of-living adjustments and four-day workweeks, a priority since his election in March. He also has castigated the Big Three\u2019s battery factories for their low wages.<\/p>\n

Beyond ensuring that the workers assembling electric vehicles are paid the same as those assembling conventional cars, the risks inherent in battery production are a major concern to union members. Safety issues at GM\u2019s Ultium Cells battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio, led to the factory\u2019s unionization earlier this year. An explosion and fire there in March prompted an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Its inquiry, released last week, found 17 violations<\/a>, including inadequate respiratory protection equipment, emergency showers, and eye-washing stations. OSHA could levy $270,000 in fines.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been sounding the alarm for months about Ultium and these high-risk, high-skill EV battery operations,\u201d Fain said in a statement to Grist. \u201cThis is dangerous work that deserves to be compensated well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pay at Ultium has risen by $3 to $4 an hour since the union vote in December, even though workers do not yet have a formal contract. The master agreements the UAW holds with General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis await ratification, so none of the union\u2019s recent victories are certain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little too soon to pop the bubbly and have champagne and celebrate, but it\u2019s all good news,\u201d said Arthur Wheaton, director of the Labor Studies department at Cornell University.<\/p>\n

The fact GM is ahead of its domestic competitors when it comes to EV battery production played a role in its recent concession, Wheaton said. GM had already planned to phase out gas-powered vehicles<\/a> by 2035. The UAW\u2019s success at the Ultium plant, and more broadly within GM, could have an impact even beyond union shops, given the ongoing labor shortage and a need to stay competitive when attracting workers, especially when there is some evidence<\/a> that EV plants will not, as some believe, require fewer workers. Auto industry analysts say any wage increases resulting from the strike will likely pressure large, stridently anti-union manufacturers like Tesla, which pays significantly less than the Detroit automakers, to raise wages<\/a> in the hope that it forestalls the risk of unionizing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you get a big pay raise for GM and Ford, then many \u2014 not all \u2014 of the automakers will raise their wages to make sure they don\u2019t get unionized,\u201d Wheaton said.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you\u2019ll see that in the battery sector as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

GM\u2019s concession was far from assured. The Big Three co-own their battery plants with foreign companies<\/a>, like Ultium, which GM co-owns with the Korean company LG Energy Solutions. These joint-venture plants are not automatically covered by existing UAW labor agreements, because they are what\u2019s called a \u201cpermissive\u201d part of those contracts that do not require either side to negotiate the terms of their operation.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, EVs have not had the same focus as other parts of the contract negotiations, despite the central role the cars, and the batteries powering them, will play in the future of both automakers and the men and women they employ. GM, Stellantis, and Ford had consistently claimed that conceding to UAW\u2019s demands would make them less competitive against foreign automakers in the burgeoning EV market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why [UAW was] happy to get GM, because they use what they call \u2018pattern bargaining,\u2019\u201d Wheaton said, referring to a labor strategy<\/a>, pioneered in part by autoworkers, that uses prior organizing wins to pressure other employers into take-it-or-leave-it offers. It may also bring the union fight back to an old battleground as EV battery plants open in an expanding \u201cBattery Belt\u201d<\/a> spanning the right-to-work South, where several foreign automakers, including Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen, operate factories.<\/p>\n

The UAW has struggled to organize Southern factories like the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which builds the electric ID.4. In a staggering loss considered a massive failure<\/a> for the union\u2019s organization efforts in the South, Volkswagen workers rejected<\/a> union membership in 2019. Fain told Grist that the union has since the beginning of the strike been fielding calls from non-union autoworkers, \u201cfrom the West to the Midwest and especially in the South,\u201d indicating organizing priorities beyond the current contract fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at organizing half a dozen auto companies in the coming years,\u201d he said. \u201cPretty soon we won\u2019t just be talking about the Big Three \u2014 more like Big Five, Big Seven, Big Ten unionized automakers.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an opportune time for UAW, since Inflation Reduction Act funds are only just now flowing to EV manufacturing. The money comes with stipulations that have been favorable to the union\u2019s cause, in particular incentives for manufacturing everything from solar panels to EV batteries domestically with union labor. Because the allocations are just beginning to flow, many factories aren\u2019t yet online, so hiring won\u2019t start for a while. That gives unions like the UAW time to organize, with help from environmental groups. The Blue-Green Alliance, for example, has worked to bring labor and climate interests together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Big Three have argued that there has to be a choice between paying autoworkers at family-sustaining union wages and benefits, and making the shift to EV production at a pace and scale that will meet both consumer demand and the climate crisis,\u201d said Jason Walsh, the organization\u2019s executive director. \u201cWe think that that\u2019s a false choice. They can do both. And the agreement with GM suggests that they now recognize they have to do both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feeley had similar thoughts when she decided to support the strike. She believes the EV transition must be equitable and just \u2014 not just now, but decades from now, because \u201cone generation comes to the plant after another.\u201d When autoworkers demand fair treatment and better pay, they do so not just for themselves, but for the children and grandchildren who will build the cars of the future.<\/p>\n

Watch what happens to these jobs that are self destructing!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

United Auto Workers president\u00a0 and MARXIST, Shawn Fain wore a T-shirt reading \u201cEat the Rich\u201d and a deadly serious stare when he announced a major development in the union\u2019s monthlong strike: General Motors agreed to include its electric vehicle and battery factories in the forthcoming labor contract. That deal will cover 6,000 employees at four […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions\/108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}