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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 >>>

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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 >>>

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

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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.”

 

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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.

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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.”

 

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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.”

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

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UNION PLUS – Car Rental Discounts

Vacation season is in full swing. Union members, rent a car for your getaway and save up to 35%* off Avis or Budget base rates. *Terms apply.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS > https://unionplus.click/5en

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UAW Celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the Detroit Freedom Walk

UAW International President Shawn Fain, members of the UAW International Executive Board, and thousands of UAW members joined the Detroit community on Saturday, June 24th, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Detroit Freedom Walk of 1963.

During the 1963 “Walk to Freedom,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave an early version of his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech at Cobo Hall in Detroit.

The 2023 walk and rally, led by the Detroit chapter of the NAACP, commemorate historic events that have shaped U.S. progress towards equality, justice, and civil rights.

President Fain marched shoulder to shoulder with NAACP leaders and community leaders including President Derrick Johnson and Dr. Reverend Wendel Anthony, President of the Detroit Branch of NAACP.

UAW Vice Presidents Chuck Browning and Mike Booth, along with Region 1 Director LaShawn English, Region 1A Director Laura Dickerson, Region 2B Director Dave Green, Region 9A Director Brandon Mancilla, and many UAW members and local leaders participated in the 60th Commemorative Freedom Walk.

The walk culminated in a rally at Hart Plaza, where President Fain emphasized the UAW’s commitment to civil rights and labor rights.

“The UAW will not abide racist attacks on our brothers and sisters and family of color. Civil rights are labor rights!”

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