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UAW Statement on SAG-AFTRA and WGA Strikes

The UAW stands in solidarity with the 170,000 workers of SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America currently on strike fighting for a fair contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Both strikes are the result of the AMPTP refusing to address the key issues of working actors and writers. While workers in the film & television industry have seen their working conditions and standard of living come under attack, top Hollywood executives continue to be paid hundreds of millions of dollars. Warner Brothers CEO David Zaslav alone has made close to $500 million dollars over the last five years.

“I’m inspired to see members of SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild standing up for us all,” UAW President Shawn Fain said. “Our industries may be different, but our fight is the same: corporate executives make millions, while the workers who make the industry run get crumbs. That’s why working people, from Hollywood to Detroit, are standing up and fighting back. To the members of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, the UAW has got your back.”

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The Children’s Law Center Union Announces Strike, Demands Fair Wages and Better Working Conditions

July 17, 2023 (Brooklyn, NY) – Today, the Children’s Law Center (CLC) staff announced that they are on strike. CLC is a 26-year-old, non-profit law firm, and the first organization in New York City dedicated primarily to the representation of children in custody, visitation, and guardianship litigation. Their attorneys, social workers, and other staff are dedicated to ensuring that the children whom they represent have a voice in the legal proceedings that have a critical impact on their lives.

In 2020, faced with enormous caseloads and low wages that did not meet industry standards, CLC staff voted overwhelmingly to unionize with the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, UAW Local 2325, which represents 3,000 members at 25 non-profit legal services providers primarily in New York City.

In March 2021, CLC’s union presented its initial contract proposal to management. In the 838 days since, CLC Management has failed to bargain in good faith, only making a first insulting and abysmal salary offer last week and forcing the union to call for a strike.

CLC is not alone in calling for higher wages and better working conditions. Legal and human services organizations across the city have chosen to organize in recent years. The importance of our legal and social work cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, the way that CLC’s Management and Board of Directors have treated staff at the bargaining table demonstrates that, ultimately, they do not value staff’s significant experience, expertise, and dedication to improving the lives of some of New York City’s most at-risk children.

 

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UAW President Shawn Fain to Rally with Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien and Hundreds of UPS Teamsters

NEW HYDE PARK, NY — UAW President Shawn Fain and Region 9A Director Brandon Mancilla will join Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien, Teamsters Local 804 President Vinnie Perrone, and hundreds of UPS workers at the Teamsters Contract Unity Rally in New York this Saturday, July 15th.

The rally comes as the Teamsters near their July 31st strike deadline at UPS, covering 340,000 Teamster drivers and warehouse workers, and amidst the opening of contract negotiations at the Big Three automakers, covering 150,000 autoworkers.  

WHAT: UPS Teamsters Contract Unity Rally

WHEN: Saturday, July 15, 9am

WHERE: Teamsters Local 282, 2500 Marcus Avenue, New Hyde Park, NY

“From UPS to the Big Three, Corporate America continues to attack the working class in this country, and the Teamsters are teaching us all a lesson in fighting back,” UAW President Shawn Fain said. “The UAW stands in solidarity with our Teamster family and I’m traveling to New York to deliver that message straight to the hardworking Teamsters at UPS.”

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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.

 

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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

 

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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

Read more
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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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