, ,

UAW VP Chuck Browning Answers Ford CEO Farley With Facts in Free Press Op-Ed

Ford CEO Jim Farley made some strange claims recently in the Detroit Free Press. He talked about the $112,000 a year that the “average” UAW member makes at Ford. It was a number that didn’t sit right with UAW Vice President of the National Ford Department Chuck Browning, so he wrote to the Free Press  to correct the record. He noted that the inflated figure is “labor costs to the company and not what goes into a worker’s pocket.” Browning said it was the kind of math the Big Three used to mislead the public years ago during the financial crisis. But this year is different. Our bargaining team is fighting back.

 

, , , , , ,

HIGH RISK & LOW PAY: New Report Exposes Major Health and Safety Problems at GM’s New Battery Cell Plant in Ohio

Today, the UAW releases “High Risk & Low Pay: A Case Study of Ultium Cells Lordstown,” a white paper that highlights the dangerous working conditions at General Motors’ joint-venture battery cell plant in Lordstown, Ohio. It includes worker testimonials and health & safety research that show the urgent need to raise wages and safety standards in the EV battery industry.

READ THE WHITE PAPER HERE: UAW.org/Ultium

In December 2022, the workers who build electric vehicle batteries for Ultium Cells in Lordstown, Ohio, voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW.

The white paper follows a video released last week, “Our Defining Moment,” featuring the voices of Ultium workers speaking out on the risk of a failed transition to electric vehicles if companies like General Motors continue to pursue a low-road approach. View the video here.

It also follows an independent report by Good Jobs First, “Power Outrage: Will Heavily Subsidized Battery Factories Generate Substandard Jobs?” The report details the immense government subsidies going into the EV battery industry, and how corporate America is using them to drastically lower industry standards for EV workers. Read the report here.

For the full story of the Ultium workers’ fight for justice, visit UAW.org/Ultium

 

, , , , ,

Good Jobs First – Power Outrage: Will Heavily Subsidized Battery Factories Generate Substandard Jobs?

Under a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act, some factories making batteries for electric vehicles will each receive more than a billion dollars per year from the U.S. government, with no requirement to pay good wages to production workers. Thanks to the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit, also called 45X for its section in the Internal Revenue Code, battery companies will receive tax credits that they can use, sell, or cash out.

The 45X program alone will cost taxpayers over $200 billion in the next decade, far more than the $31 billion estimated by Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation. On top of 45X and other federal incentives, factories manufacturing electric vehicles and batteries have also been promised well over $13 billion in state and local economic development incentives in just the past 18 months.

Read more on GOODJOBSFIRST.org >>>

, , , , ,

WFMJ: UAW president says Ultium Cells workers receive ‘poverty wages,’ face safety concerns

United Auto Workers Union President Shawn Fain addressed UAW workers about concerns facing auto workers and battery workers at Ultium Cells in Lordstown.

Fain said that some of the UAW workers were struggling to get by, and stated that the big 3 automakers, GM, Ford, and Stellantis (Chrysler, Fiat) made more than $36 million nearly profit last year he said during a live stream on Facebook from Detriot, Michigan Friday.

Read the full article on WFMJ.com >>>

, , , , , , ,

WATCH: New Video, “Our Defining Moment,” Calls Out Big Three Race to the Bottom in EV Transition

Read more
, , ,

UAW STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH 1400 STRIKING UE MEMBERS AT WABTEC

The UAW stands in solidarity with the 1400 members of UE Locals 506 and 618 who are on strike at Wabtec in Erie, Pennsylvania. Just like the UAW, these workers are standing up for good, green jobs, and against disinvestment in our nation’s working class communities.

Today, members of UAW Local 1112 at Ultium visited the UE picket line at Wabtec to stand in solidarity. In 2021, General Motors announced plans to work with Wabtec to build Ultium cells to power green locomotives. From Lordstown to Erie, workers are united in the fight for justice in the new green manufacturing industry.

“As we transition to green manufacturing, we have a major opportunity to reinvest in good jobs in this country,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “But corporate America isn’t going to let that happen without a fight. Just like they’ve done for generations, UE is leading the way, on and off the job, on the picket line, and in our communities. To our UE family: we’ve got your back.”

“The UE’s fight in Erie is everybody’s fight,” said UAW Region 9 Director Dan Vicente. “An attack on UE is an attack on all union workers in this country. We need to keep good manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania, and we’ll support anyone taking action to make that happen.”

 

, ,

UAW Statement on Supreme Court Decision to Strike Down Student Loan Forgiveness

Today, the Supreme Court released yet another anti-worker decision, reversing efforts to cancel student debt. By definition, it is not the rich, but the working class, who suffer from student loan debt, taking out loans in hopes of bettering themselves and their economic prospects. In striking down student debt relief, the Court has effectively stolen $430 billion from the pockets of the working class.

While the Court finds no issue with massive tax cuts for the rich, billions in corporate welfare, or repeated efforts to make it more difficult to vote, strike, or organize, today’s decision shows the level of disdain the Court has for the working class and poor in this country.

Over 43 million Americans were set to receive modest relief. One in four Black borrowers would have seen their debt cleared entirely. A third of our seniors with student debt have already defaulted on their loans. In addition, loan repayments set to resume in October will have a devastating effect on workers across our country.

On behalf of countless Americans who suffer from the burden of student debt, the UAW calls on President Biden to use his existing authority under the Higher Education Act, as the Trump Administration did, to cancel the $1.7 trillion of student debt burdening 43 million Americans.

“The law is clear,” said UAW Local 2325 member Jane Fox, a longtime advocate for student debt relief, “Student debt cancellation is legal. President Biden made a promise to deliver relief and to close the racial wealth gap. UAW members call on the President to use every tool available to cancel these debts, protect student borrowers from default, and ensure American families are not pushed into economic ruin when payments resume. The time to act is now.”

It is critical that we fight for not only the cancellation of student debt, but for free public higher education for every American as well. Rest assured; the Court will not sway our conviction. The UAW will continue to fight for economic justice for the working class, on and off the job, from campuses to factories.

,

Honoring Pride Month 2023

In honor of the closing of Pride Month 2023, UAW President Shawn Fain issued the following statement:

“Our union is proud to stand with all workers fighting for justice on and off the job. In our union’s constitution, Article 2, Section 2, we set out “to unite in one organization, regardless of religion, race, creed, color, sex, political affiliation or nationality, age, disability, marital status or sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, all employees under the jurisdiction of this International Union.”

“To unite in one organization, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.” As the UAW International President, I take that mandate very seriously. In a time when LGBTQ workers are under attack from state legislatures to the workplace, our principles of unity and solidarity demand we stand with them.

“I am proud to represent thousands of LGBTQ members, and the UAW will always stand strong against efforts to divide and conquer the working class by those who would stoke division along the lines of gender or sexual orientation. Solidarity to all our UAW family, and let’s keep fighting for justice for all, on and off the job.”

 

, , , , ,

UAW Statement on Supreme Court Decision on Affirmative Action in Higher Education

Today, the Supreme Court upended 50 years of precedent to make access to higher education more difficult for students of color. Students of color often come from working class families and rely on higher education to access good jobs and stable careers. Access to higher education is a labor issue.

This latest anti-worker, divide-and-conquer tactic from the Court seeks to block the pathway to good jobs both on and off campuses. The 100,000 UAW members working in higher education, from coast to coast, from the public to the private sector, stand united against this attack on working people.

“Institutionalized and systemic racism continue to disproportionately affect students of color, and affirmative action has been a small yet significant step in addressing these inequalities,” said Woohee Kim, a working member of the Harvard Graduate Students Union, UAW Local 5118. “No Supreme Court decision can erase the racism that permeates into every social fabric of our society. Affirmative action is necessary for a diverse workforce and a multicultural democracy that champions diversity, equity, and justice.”

“In California, the state’s 1995 ban on affirmative action in public education and public sector employment immediately devastated diversity at UC,” said Yunyi Li, Vice President of UAW Local 2865. “It’s a national embarrassment to see the US Supreme Court embrace this massive setback for higher education.”

, , , , , ,

NEW VIDEO, “FIGHTING FOR COLA”: UAW CALLS ON BIG THREE TO REINSTATE COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENTS

Read more
UAW Logo

UAW SOLIDARITY HOUSE

8000 East Jefferson Avenue
Detroit, Michigan 48214

(313) 926-5000

Union Plus Logo

Connect

Organize

Latest News

UNION PLUS – HOTEL DISCOUNTS

People's Voice Winner Award
Webby Award Logo