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This week, top officers of the UAW participated in the union’s first-ever Unionwide Town Hall, themed “Back in the Fight: Our Generation’s Defining Moment at the Big Three.”
The National Town Hall is a new addition to the UAW constitution, passed by delegates at the 2022 Constitutional Convention, “to ensure an open flow of information and better communication with the UAW’s active and retired membership.”
President Shawn Fain laid out the union’s position towards the Detroit automakers. “These companies have been extraordinarily profitable, and our members have created incredible value for these companies during some really hard, and dangerous years,” Fain said. “They can afford our demands, and we expect them to pony up.”
Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock noted, “These companies can afford all of our demands. Since the Great Recession, as a result of our members’ hard work, the Big Three have been amassing an ocean of money.”
Vice President Rich Boyer spoke about the need to end the tier system in the upcoming contracts. “Tiers weaken us and undermine our solidarity by dividing us in our workplaces. Tiers must come to an end.”
Discussing the need to win back the reinstatement of COLA, Vice President Chuck Browning stated, “Inflation has gone up three times as much as our wages in the past three and a half years. That’s unacceptable, and unsustainable.”
Vice President Mike Booth spoke on the union prioritizing job security during the transition to electric vehicles. “It must be a just transition. That means workers aren’t left behind. The transition must do right by our members, our families, and our communities.”
On June 1, 2009, General Motors filed for bankruptcy. To commemorate the 14th anniversary of that event, UAW Vice President Mike Booth issued the following statement:
“Fourteen years ago this week, General Motors filed for bankruptcy. It was a scary moment for the auto industry, for our country, and for auto workers everywhere. The federal government, the American taxpayer, and – more than anyone – the auto workers rallied to save the iconic company.
Auto workers had their wages slashed, lost their retirement security, gave up their job security, had their cost-of-living adjustments suspended. We gave up so much to save this company. And it wasn’t just UAW members who took the hit — it was our families, our communities, and the whole middle class of this great nation.
In the 14 years since that moment, GM has fully bounced back. Last year, GM ranked number 25 on the Fortune 500. In the past decade, the company has made over $100 billion dollars in profit in North America.
You know who hasn’t bounced back? The US autoworker. We still live with the two-tier wage and benefits system. We still don’t have cost-of-living adjustments in a time of historic inflation. We still suffer from plant closures and an uncertain future, even when business is booming.
We’ve waited long enough. It’s time to make whole the auto workers who sacrificed to save this industry. That’s why we’re fighting for a fair contract at GM, Ford, and Stellantis in 2023.”
Bethesda, Maryland – Today, 4,800 early-career researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) filed to form their union, NIH Fellows United-UAW. This is the first union within the U.S. federal government for research fellows, which includes postbaccalaureate, predoctoral, and postdoctoral researchers.
The NIH is the largest biomedical research institution in the world, and fellows’ work is integral to the development of technologies and treatments to enhance public health. Workers cited ongoing issues around low pay, a lack of support for early-career researchers, and the need for a voice at work as reasons for their collective action.
They rallied today as they celebrated this milestone and then traveled to the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) to file for their union.
“Fellows don’t have any voice or power in this institution, so it feels like we’re cheap labor rather than equal members of a team,” said Travis Kinder, Research Fellow at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). “The changes we need at the NIH and in the world cannot be done alone and require us to work collectively.”
PLYMOUTH, MI — Nearly 200 workers at Webasto Roof Systems have voted to join UAW Local 3000, in the latest organizing victory for the union.
The workers, who make convertible tops for the Mustang, Jeep, Bronco, and Corvette, launched their organizing drive in November, and faced an intense anti-union campaign from management.
“We’re doing this for our coworkers,” said Sheron Johnson, a production worker at Webasto. “People have been mistreated, not getting paid, having their schedules changed with no notice. We want to leave this place better for the next generation.”
Gustavo Vasquez has worked at Webasto for 17 years. “We used to have our voices heard at Webasto, that’s all we want,” Vasquez said. “To be treated as an asset to the company and not just a number.”
“These brave workers stuck together in the face of fierce opposition from the company,” said UAW Local 3000 President Steve Gonzales. “As they move from this organizing victory to the fight for a first contract, we’ve got their back 100 percent.”
“Over and over, we’re seeing workers across the auto supply chain come together in a common cause for justice on the job,” said UAW Region 1A Director Laura Dickerson. “Congratulations to our newest members at Webasto, and welcome to the UAW Region 1A family!”
HOLLAND, OH – Workers who make vehicle batteries for Clarios in Holland, OH are marking one week on strike for a fair work schedule and against pay cuts, after rejecting the company’s latest offer by an overwhelming 98 percent.
In a letter to the company, US Senator Sherrod Brown wrote “in support of the members of UAW Local 12 who are currently exercising their rights to strike for fair pay they’ve earned.” Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur visited strikers on the picket line, and several other elected officials have publicly shown their support.
On Friday, the company won a temporary injunction limiting supporters to five picketers per gate, even banning livestock after a member rode their horse to the picket line.
“Using the courts as a weapon against working people standing up for their rights is extremely disrespectful,” said UAW Region 2B Director Dave Green. “Clarios doesn’t need a judge to help them end this dispute – they need to come back to the bargaining table with a serious offer that our members can accept.”
UAW family,
This past month has been a very busy one for our union, and I’m excited to share what we’ve been working on. This week, I spoke directly to the membership about our progress, and our major fights ahead. If you missed it, check it out here.
The Electric Vehicle transition remains a core issue for our union. Right now, we have UAW members in Lordstown, Ohio, making batteries for a GM “joint venture” called Ultium, earning just $16.50 an hour. EVs aren’t just coming – they’re here. And we support a clean auto industry. But we need to make sure the EV transition is a “just transition.” That means it’s not a race to the bottom. That means not allowing these companies to circumvent our contracts to pay low-road wages like they’re doing at Ultium.
Outside of the Big Three, the UAW continues to fight and win:
- We had a huge victory this week in the IPS sector, where over 400 workers at Yanfeng auto supplier outside Kansas City voted in a landslide to join UAW Local 710. These workers faced low wages, racial discrimination, and no seniority rights but they fought back and won their union. I want to personally welcome these workers to the family and let them know that myself and everyone else in the UAW have your backs as you fight for a first contract.
- Congratulations to Local 588 members at Metal-Matic who recently ratified their first contract. After 65 days on the picket line Local 588 was able to negotiate an agreement that achieves equal pay for equal work, a bedrock principle of unionism. These members proved that when we stand in solidarity, we can win.
- Higher education workers continue to organize, fight, and win, with major campaigns and organizing activity from the University of Maine to the University of Southern California. From coast to coast, the UAW continues to lead the way in building power on higher education campuses.
Your elected leadership on the International Executive Board are united and hard at work implementing the changes we believe are needed to transform our union back into a fighting organization. But it’s going to take all of us to get back in the fight. Send this message along to a UAW member in your life and ask them to sign up for Member Updates at UAW.org, and follow UAW on social media. We’re just getting started.
In solidarity,
UAW President Shawn
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