ZF WORKERS IN ALABAMA MARK 10 DAYS ON STRIKE

Over 100 union workers at ZF Chassis Systems in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, went on strike on Wednesday, September 20, demanding the end of a tier wage system and lower healthcare costs.

The striking workers, UAW Local 2083 members, recently rejected a fourth contract proposal by the company which again failed to address workers’ core demands.

“Every contract since the Great Recession, this company keeps taking and taking and they never want to give back to the workers,” says Tammy Slayton, who has worked at ZF for nine years. “We’re trying to get rid of the tier system. That’s our number one issue. We want everyone making the same wages.”

Starting pay for new hires at ZF is only $15.50 an hour, with a top wage rate of $18.80. Tier one workers top out at $20.30 an hour.

Slayton says she works with someone who has eighteen years seniority at the company who started at the company making $18.05. “He makes $20.30 today,” she says. “After eighteen years!”

“Inflation is hammering these workers,” Local 2083 President Ronnie Mills says. “It’s time for ZF to do right the right thing. Our members just want what is fair. They don’t want the whole pie. They just want a piece of the pie.”

ZF Chassis Systems produces axles for a nearby Mercedes-Benz factory. “We make 425 axles per shift, 850 per day, six days a week.” Mills says. “We’ve made this company so much money and the company still refuses to treat us right.”

The Tuscaloosa ZF facility runs two shifts, and implements an alternate work schedule, which allows the company to avoid paying overtime even though workers are putting in well over 40 hours a week, working 10-to-12-hour shifts.

New worker turnover is a major problem at the facility as well, due to the low wages being paid by ZF and the physical nature of the jobs being performed. “Have you ever picked up an axle?” Slayton asks.

“There’s absolutely no reason why this company can’t afford to give Local 2083 members what they deserve,” Region 8 Director, Tim Smith, says. “ZF is making billions of dollars. It’s more of the same corporate greed we’re seeing all over our economy.”

Despite the challenges facing Local 2083 members, Slayton said workers at ZF feel empowered by the union’s more aggressive approach as of late. “This company hasn’t seen a union team that isn’t going to back down,” Slayton says. “But that’s exactly what they are seeing now. Our Region 8 leadership has our back in this fight against ZF and we know they’ll support us until we’ve won the contract we deserve.”

“The morale on the picket line has been great,” Mills says. “I’m proud of these workers for standing up to the company and holding the line. Very proud.”

UAW EXPANDS STAND UP STRIKE AGAINST GENERAL MOTORS AND FORD AT NOON EASTERN

DETROIT – UAW President Shawn Fain just announced on Facebook Live that the union will expand its Stand Up Strike against General Motors and Ford at GM’s Lansing Delta Township Assembly and Ford’s Chicago Assembly. An additional 7,000 UAW members at these two plants will join the strike at Noon Eastern Time. This brings the total number of Big Three strikers to 25,000 members at 43 facilities in 21 states.

There was no additional strike action announced at Stellantis, due to considerable progress in bargaining moments before the broadcast.

Following is an excerpt from Fain’s prepared remarks describing the status of negotiations. You can view the remarks as delivered at the UAW’s Facebook and YouTube channels:

“Over the last week, the vice presidents, your national negotiators, and my office have been working night and day to bargain a record contract that reflects the record profits we have produced for the Big Three.

Sadly, despite our willingness to bargain, Ford and GM have refused to make meaningful progress at the table.

That is why at noon Eastern today, we will expand our strike to these two companies.

To be clear, negotiations have not broken down.

We are still talking with all three companies.

I am still very hopeful that we can reach a deal that reflects the incredible sacrifices and contributions our members have made over the last decade.

But I also know that what we win at the bargaining table depends on the power we build on the job.

It’s time to use that power.

That is why I’m calling on an additional 7,000 members across Ford and GM to go on strike starting at noon Eastern today.

I am calling on Ford’s Chicago Assembly plant to Stand Up and go on strike.

And I’m calling GM’s Lansing Delta Township to Stand Up and go out on strike.

Let me be clear and this is important: Lansing Regional Stamping WILL CONTINUE WORKING.

Our courageous members at these two plants are the next wave of reinforcements in our fight for record contracts.

We are NOT calling on any additional members at Stellantis to go on strike.

Moments before this broadcast, Stellantis made significant progress on the 2009 COLA, the right to not cross a picket line, as well as the right to strike over product commitments, plant closures, and outsourcing moratoriums.

We are excited about this momentum at Stellantis and hope it continues.

Until then, we will keep building our Arsenal of Democracy.

And we will win. Our strategy is working.

As the President of the United States recently put it, UAW members “saved the automobile industry back in 2008. We made a lot of sacrifices. We gave up a lot. And the companies were in trouble. But now they’re doing incredibly well.  And guess what?  We should be doing incredibly well too.”

Over the last ten years, the Big Three have made a record quarter of a TRILLION dollars in North American profits.

Over the last six months, the Big Three have made a record $21 BILLION in total profits.

We knew going into this fight that the road ahead was going to be difficult.

And we knew that it was unlikely this would be quick.

To quote the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.

UAW family, you are the force that bends that arc.

Our anger is righteous. Our struggle is just.

We are fed up with corporate greed.

We are fed up with corporate excess.

We are fed up with breaking our bodies for companies that take more and more and give less and less.

And as of noon eastern today, 25,000 of us will be on strike for a better future.

To all our community and political allies, we invite you to join our picket lines.

To our UAW family still working on the job, keep monitoring for status quo violations and keep refusing voluntary overtime.

And keep showing the companies that you are ready to Stand Up when called.

When we win this fight, when we right the wrongs of the past 15 years, and when we set a new course for future generations, it won’t be because of any President.

Not the UAW President. Not the President of the United States.

It will be because ordinary people did extraordinary things.

Our solidarity is our strength.

And right now, our strength is the hope of working-class people everywhere.

Let’s Stand Up and win this thing. For ourselves. For our families. For our communities. For our country. And for our future.”

NEW UAW VIDEO ON COMBATING PLANT CLOSURES FEATURES FOOTAGE OF DONALD TRUMP FALSELY PROMISING AUTOWORKERS HE WOULD SAVE THEIR JOBS

 

DETROIT – The UAW released a new video, “Hometowns,” about the union’s fight in negotiations to stop plant closures that have devastated communities across the Midwest. The video features 2017 footage of Donald Trump falsely promising autoworkers in Ohio he would save their jobs. The ex-president is holding a rally today at a non-union factory in Metro Detroit.

The video can be accessed at this link, and the media is invited to use the footage.

The Big Three have closed or spun off 65 auto plants over the last 20 years. “Hometowns” shows the damage those closings have caused and focuses on two UAW contract proposals that would keep auto plants open:

  • The right to strike over plant closures, a right UAW members have never had but have now won at Ford.
  • The Working Family Protection Program, which would ensure that automakers trying to close a plant must pay UAW members to keep working.

“Hometowns” mentions recent closures at all three companies, but looks most closely at the personal toll of General Motors’ shuttering of the Lordstown Assembly Plant in 2019.

UAW Region 2B Director David Green followed his father into GM Lordstown and felt he had “hit the lottery” when he got the job. But Green was president of the local union as GM shut the plant and saw the ripple effects that ravaged the local economy. Dustin Rose, a former Lordstown worker who grew up near the plant, saw friends and family scatter when it closed and went through a divorce when he had to transfer to a GM facility in Western New York.

GM, Ford and Stellantis have all been highly profitable for more than a decade, but they continue to close plants. The Big Three made a quarter-trillion dollars in North American profits over the last ten years. They made $21 billion in total profits in the first six months of this year.

The UAW has said record profits should mean record contracts and put its Members’ Demands on the table back in mid-July. All three automakers took more than a month to make their economic counterproposals and have so far failed to reach fair agreements.

The UAW launched its historic Stand Up Strike against all three automakers when the contracts expired on Sept. 14, and 18,600 UAW members are now on strike at 41 Big Three facilities in 21 states. Click here for a full list and map of the facilities on strike.

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UAW EXPANDS STAND UP STRIKE AGAINST GENERAL MOTORS AND STELLANTIS

DETROIT – UAW President Shawn Fain just announced on Facebook Live that the union, at noon today, will expand its Stand Up Strike against General Motors and Stellantis at 38 locations across 20 states. On Monday, Fain had announced that the union would expand its Stand Up Strike against automakers that did not make substantial progress toward a fair agreement. Neither company did. Approximately 5,600 Big Three workers will join the approximately 13,000 who are already on strike.

The union is continuing to strike Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich., but is not expanding its strike against the Dearborn-based automaker. The UAW and Ford did make substantial progress in bargaining over the last week.

Following is an excerpt from Fain’s prepared remarks describing the status of negotiations. You can view the remarks as delivered at the UAW’s Facebook and YouTube channels:

“As you know, we gave our Members Demands to the company two months ago. They wasted a whole month failing to respond. But there has been movement. In particular, we’ve made real progress at Ford. We’re not there yet, but I want you to see the direction that Ford is going, and what we think that means for our contract fight.

At Ford, Rawsonville Components and Sterling Axle employees will now be on the same wage scale as assembly workers. We have eliminated that entire wage tier. At Ford, we have officially reinstated the COLA that was suspended in 2009.

UAW family, many people said this couldn’t be done, but we just did it. We have also won, for the first time in our history, the right to strike over plant closures during the life of our agreement. I don’t have to tell you that this is an important victory in our fight to save our jobs, keep families together, and keep our communities from being gutted.

At Ford we’ve also won additional job security for our members in the event of indefinite layoff. If that happens, our members, including temporary workers, will now receive income security for up to two years, with healthcare.

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THE STAND UP STRIKE BEGINS AT THE BIG THREE

UAW family and allies — 

A few minutes ago, thousands of UAW members at Ford, GM, and Stellantis walked out, marking the beginning of the Stand Up Strike. 

UAW members at GM Wentzville Assembly, Local 2250 in Region 4 are ON STRIKE.  

UAW members at Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex, Local 12 in Region 2B are ON STRIKE.  

UAW members at Ford Michigan Assembly Plant – Final Assembly and Paint, Local 900 in Region 1A are ON STRIKE. 

This fight is our generation’s defining moment. Not just at the Big Three, but across the entire working class. 

We will stand up for ourselves.
We will stand up for our families.
We will stand up for our communities. 

Join us. 

Despite Challenges of Strike, Local 997 Members Remain Committed to Helping Community

NEWTON, IA – As UAW Local 997 members continue to walk the picket line on strike against Thombert in Newton, Iowa, they still make sure to find the time to give back to their local community.

While picketing last week, strikers were thinking of ways they could help out local residents. “One of the workers on strike has a son who owns a lawn mowing business,” said Local 997 member, David Davidson, who has worked at Thombert for almost four years. “His son offered to let us use his equipment if we wanted to help these folks mow their lawns. We thought, ‘we’re already out here, why wouldn’t we?’” Several local members spent the day mowing and cleaning up the yards in the neighborhood.

Region 4 Assistant Director, Lucas DeSpain, said he wasn’t surprised when he heard about strikers’ efforts. “Local 997 members have a lot of community support,” he noted. “And much of that is because of their work within the community, which continues to date.”

 

MAKE A DONATION TO SUPPORT STRIKING UAW LOCAL 997 MEMBERS

 

Thombert is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of polyurethane wheels and tires for narrow aisle lift trucks. Local 997 members have been on strike since August 1. They are striking for fair wages and to stop the company from attempting to implement higher healthcare costs. Thombert is proposing that Accident and Sickness benefits for workers begin on the eighth day of a claim instead of the first day, as is the current practice. Local President, Steve Wertz, said the current policy has been in effect since 1991.

Work-life balance is also a major issue at the company. Workers have been forced to work six days a week every other weekend for years. “That kind of schedule ends up taking its toll on you,” Davidson said.

Local 997 President, Steve Wertz, said that seeing how committed his members are to each other and to the community during the strike only reinforces his belief in the power of solidarity.

“This membership is out there 24/7, walking this line for a fair contract and I could not be more proud of them,” Wertz remarked. “I really mean that. They are a solid group of Brothers and Sisters and they are paving the way for the younger generation. “

UAW President, Shawn Fain, praised the actions of Local 997 members on a recent Facebook Live event: “Even as they’re fighting cutbacks in vacation time and disability benefits, they’re cutting the lawns of their neighbors. Solidarity is the foundation of our union and service to the community is at our core. The Thombert strikers of Local 997, Unit 8, are proving it.”

Davidson stated that strikers know the support of the community will be crucial during the fight against Thombert and that residents have already played a big part in helping the strike. “The people in this neighborhood are standing behind us, bringing us supplies, allowing us to set up tents for shelter on their property, so it’s very important to us that we return that good will,” he said. “This is a small community in Newton and we’re sticking together. We’re going to keep helping each other as much as we can.”

 

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VIDEO: OVER 650 WORKERS AT LM MANUFACTURING IN DETROIT VOTE TO JOIN THE UAW 


DETROIT – Over 650 workers at LM Manufacturing in Detroit, MI, have voted by a supermajority to join the UAW as part of Local 600, one of the largest and most historic locals in UAW history.

“It makes me feel good,” LM worker Cassandra Wiley said about the ‘yes’ vote. “It makes me feel like our voices were heard. It makes us feel like we accomplished something. It’s a really good feeling to know that change is coming.”

Workers at LM Manufacturing produce seats for the Ford Bronco and Ranger. Organizing efforts at the facility began two months ago.

“The workers at LM reached out to the UAW with a desire to improve their working conditions and the UAW responded,” said Region 1A Servicing Representative, Darieus Finklea.

“These workers overwhelmingly wanted a union at their worksite,” said Region 1A Director, Laura Dickerson. “They’re excited, we’re excited, and the Local’s excited because 660 new UAW members is tremendous. We’ll be sitting down and negotiating their first contract coming up.”

“If you’re ever in a position to unionize a job, never be scared, never shy away,” said worker Doctainan Peoples. “Look danger in the face. Nothing comes easy. Don’t shy away from the UAW if they come to (unionize) your job… you’d better run up to ’em.”

 

VIDEO: Legal Aid Society Workers in NYC Hold Informational Picket, Demand Management Stop Stalling Negotiations

New York City – On Thursday August 3rd, members of the Legal Aid Society chapter of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (UAW Local 2325) held an informational lunchtime picket across all five boroughs of New York City. The picket was organized by the chapter’s Contract Action Team (CAT).

Legal Aid Society ALAA members took to the picket line to voice their frustrations over bargaining and record attrition of their members. An unprecedented number of attorneys have left the Legal Aid Society in recent years due to stagnant wages, inflation, student debt, and rising cost of living.

All the while, Management has failed to recruit new staff. Those members who remain are facing crushing caseloads as they struggle to provide world-class legal representation to the most vulnerable New Yorkers in criminal, family, housing, and immigration courts.

“We’re really fighting for basic human dignity, a fair wage, autonomy to do our job,” said Olga Karounos, a criminal defense attorney at Legal Aid. “We’re not just fighting for our lawyers, but for our clients themselves.”

The chapter has been bargaining with management since September 2022 and is still without a contract. Management has failed to come to the union with any substantive economic offer to meet the union’s primary demand of significant base salary increases. In addition to fighting for salaries, LAS chapter members are advocating for reasonable caseload caps for our members representing clients in Housing Court and for flexible working conditions.

“This can’t be tolerated – it’s an untenable and unsustainable position for all the attorneys,” said Atusa Mozaffari, a housing attorney with the Legal Aid Society. “Hopefully, as contract negotiations continue, our voices will be heard, and we’ll get the things we deserve.”

UAW Local 997 Strikes Thombert to Protect Standard of Living, Improve Work-Life Balance

On Tuesday, August 1, 84 members of Local 997 went on strike at Thombert, Inc. in Newton, IA, after the company refused to bargain until just a week before the current collective bargaining agreement was set to expire on July 24.

Workers at Thombert produce polyurethane wheels for electric forklifts. They are fighting for fair wages and healthcare costs, a better work-life balance, and to maintain the current Accident and Sickness benefits which currently begin on day one of a claim. The company is proposing that Accident and Sickness benefits should begin on the eighth day instead.

“We brought the company’s offer to the members, and it received a 90% NO vote,” said Local 997 President Steve Wertz.

“I didn’t want to go on strike but there is no movement from the company, even after the proposal was voted down by 90%,” said Local 997 member, Jason Wickman. “There is a disconnect with management. The company is waiting to see if we crack and cross the line. We’re together. Solidarity is shining through.”

“Members all over Region 4, and the entire UAW stand with our UAW family at Local 997 in Newton, IA, while they fight to improve their work-life balance, amongst other things, against the all too typical greedy corporate bosses,” Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell stated. “Even with 150,000 of our members in the Big-3 nearing their contract deadline, members at workplaces of all sectors and all sizes have the full support of the UAW and Region 4. Our members demand, and will win, dignity for the work they do. When all the forces of the labor movement are pushing in the same direction, we will not be stopped!”

UAW President Shawn Fain acknowledged Local 997 members’ fight on his Facebook Live Tuesday evening: “Just this afternoon, our members who make forklift wheels and tires at Thombert in Newton, Iowa, went on strike. They’re members of Local 997, Unit 8. All of us understand the issues they are striking for: fair wages so they can support their families, vacation time so they can be with their families, short-term disability benefits, and shift rotations that every factory worker deserves.”

President Fain on Facebook Live: Big Three’s Record Profits Mean Record Contracts


President Shawn Fain met with UAW members on Facebook Live last night and laid out the Members’ Demands in Big Three bargaining. UAW members are thinking big and the Big Three can afford it.

Ford, General Motors and Stellantis 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 that the Big Three made over the last decade.

“Record profits mean record contracts,” Fain said.

In past negotiations, the UAW’s core contract demands have been called the President’s Demands and the union’s president often delivered them to the company behind closed doors without even our elected National Negotiators present. This year, President Fain shared them directly with the members on Facebook Live.

Here are the Members’ Demands (download the PDF):

ELIMINATE TIERS – It’s wrong to make any worker second class. We can’t allow it any longer in the UAW. The Teamsters ended tiers at UPS. We’re going to end tiers at the Big Three.

SUBSTANTIAL WAGE INCREASES – Yes, we’re demanding double-digit pay raises. Big Three CEOs saw their pay spike 40 percent on average over the last four years. We know our members are worth the same and more.

RESTORE COLA – It’s Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) that made sure working-class communities thrived for decades. Taking that away hammered us and our hometowns. It must be restored.

DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION FOR ALL WORKERS – All workers deserve the retirement security that UAW members had for generations.

RE-ESTABLISH RETIREE MEDICAL BENEFITS – That’s just as essential as a solid pension.

RIGHT TO STRIKE OVER PLANT CLOSURES – The Big Three have closed 65 plants over the last 20 years. That’s been as devastating for our hometowns as it has been for us. We have to have the right to defend our communities from the corporate greed that’s killing so many cities and towns.

WORKING FAMILY PROTECTION PROGRAM – It’s a program that keeps UAW members on the job. If companies try to flee our hometowns, they’ll have to pay UAW members to do community-service work. Companies can still make a healthy profit and it’ll keep our communities healthy, too.

END ABUSE OF TEMP WORKERS – We are going to end the abuse of temps. Our fight at the Big Three is a fight for every worker.

MORE PAID TIME OFF TO BE WITH FAMILIES – Our members are working 60, 70, even 80 hours a week just to make ends meet. That’s not living. It’s barely surviving and it needs to stop.

SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE RETIREE PAY – We owe our retirees everything. They built these companies and they built our union. We will not forget them in these negotiations.

 

Join the Fight for the Members’ Demands! Sign the Support Card to get bargaining updates and the latest news on actions you can take to win a strong contract.
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