Burlington, IA and Racine, WI
UAW members at Locals 180 and 807 who work for CNHI have rejected the last, best and final offer from the company. As the strike continues, the UAW bargaining committee will meet to discuss next steps to take with CNHI.
Detroit — After nearly eight months on strike and continued bargaining, the CNHI has presented an upgraded last, best, and final offer. The UAW Bargaining Committee has decided to bring this offer to the members of Locals 180 and 807 for a vote. Details regarding locations of the ratification meetings, timing and voting will be communicated by the local leadership.
Academic workers at UC have reached final agreement on new contracts which make historic gains in compensation, childcare subsidies and paid leaves, and include groundbreaking new protections against bullying and discrimination.
UAW 2865 (which represents more than 19,000 Teaching Assistants, Graders, Readers and Tutors) and Student Researchers United-UAW (which represents 17,000 Student Researchers across the UC system) have ended their successful strike and will be returning to their positions.
“This is a tremendous victory for not only the members of UAW Local 2865 and SRU-UAW, but for all academic workers,” says UAW President Ray Curry. “Our members have rightfully won an agreement that will improve the quality of their lives, increase protections from harassment and discrimination, and help parents balancing the needs of family and work. The entire UAW family celebrates this victory with them.”
“These agreements set a new standard for institutions of higher education across the U.S.,” said UAW Director for Region 6, Mike Miller. “Unions make sense for academic workers. Issues like low pay, unstable benefits and inequitable working conditions aren’t going away on their own. Unions give workers the tools to make change on those issues. We look forward to building on the strength of these new contracts to improve the quality of life for every worker at UC and other universities.”
On behalf of the entire UAW International Executive Board, I send you best wishes for the Holiday Season and a Prosperous New Year. This has been a very busy year for our union. Our members led the largest strike in the history of higher education. We held the line during the mid-terms and built a labor-supportive majority in the Senate. We had our first direct election of UAW officers which will continue with a run-off next year (ballots start to be mailed January 12). We’ve organized thousands of new members and bargained multiple contracts – including first contracts.
While there was a lot of good news for our union, this was also the year when our members from CNHi (UAW Locals 180 and 807) went on strike for a fair contract on May 2. Bargainers are working to bring home an agreement our members will support while they face a heartless company who puts profits above people and the quality work they perform. This is also the year Stellantis made its outrageous announcement to idle it’s Belvidere plant. Our members from Locals 1268 and 1761 deserve a new product in the plant, something that Stellantis could easily do. It’s especially insulting as the company gladly takes taxpayer subsidies without giving back to communities. The fights with CNHi and Stellantis are far from over as we continue to fight. But we ask all of our UAW family to keep them in your thoughts this season. Region 4 continues to coordinate collections for CNHi members so please check out their Facebook page for more information.
Please be safe this holiday season. For our members celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or just the festive season, we wish you peace and health. And we look forward to building solidarity with you in 2023!
In Solidarity,
Ray Curry
On Tuesday, the United States Postal Service announced it will increase the number of electric next generation delivery vehicles it will order for its fleet. By failing to follow the lead of the Biden administration and require these vehicles be union made, the USPS has once again turned its back on the workers of Oshkosh, WI who are members of UAW Local 578 who already produce quality vehicles for Oshkosh Defense and who have the capacity and skill to produce these USPS electric vehicles.
We urge USPS to ensure that these vehicles will be union made. That’s what the UAW/NRDC lawsuit against USPS seeks to achieve. When it comes to the vehicles that will be produced by Oshkosh Defense, there is a highly skilled, trained workforce that is ready to go in Oshkosh, WI. That is where these vehicles should be made, not in a recently converted warehouse far away from the company’s home base and the UAW members who have made the company so successful.
In addition, the USPS has announced that it will purchase additional off-the-shelf vehicles. These vehicles should be made with union labor. This announcement presents an opportunity to ensure that the transition to electric vehicles is not at the expense of good union wages and existing workers.
The UAW is saddened and disgusted to read new reports of child labor at Hyundai and Kia suppliers in Alabama. This is further evidence of a deeply broken system at Hyundai and Kia. From years of experience in the auto industry, we know that automakers exert tremendous control over their suppliers and responsibility for this behavior points back to Hyundai and KIA who are using parts made with child labor. Clearly the initial instances that were brought to light in July and August of this year did not prompt the automakers to ensure that the parts they are receiving are free of child labor.
Not surprisingly, this is not the only allegation of abuse against Hyundai and Kia. They or their suppliers are facing lawsuits alleging racial and gender discrimination and exploiting professional workers from Mexico here on TN (nonimmigrant NAFTA professional) visas, and violating the terms of the visas by forcing them into low-paid production jobs. The picture emerging is of low-road labor practices in search of cheap labor at all costs. This hurts the workers being exploited but it also hurts workers throughout the industry whose standing and bargaining power is undercut by these illegal practices.
Despite all of this, the Biden Administration is considering special exemptions for the company and Disney announced that Hyundai is a sponsor of its 100th anniversary celebration. How is it that we have come to care so little about violating worker rights, and to care so little about putting children to work in dangerous manufacturing jobs? This must stop.
We urge the Department of Labor and the Biden Administration to redouble their efforts to fix the abusive, exploitive practices at Hyundai and Kia. We also call for strong labor standards to be attached to all taxpayer funds used for the benefit of companies. Specifically, no special exemptions to the Inflation Reduction Act should be extended to Hyundai and Kia for their electric vehicles. Their facilities should not be granted local, state or federal assistance under any programs and monies already granted should be clawed back.
The solution to this problem goes well beyond the important investigation the Department of Labor seems to be conducting. The UAW has joined over 20 community and labor groups in Alabama have called on Hyundai to allow for third party monitoring of their factories and suppliers and to negotiate a community benefits agreement with the community that would ensure high-road job standards at Hyundai and their suppliers.
After thirty-two days of striking, the UAW Academic Student Employee and Student Researcher bargaining teams have reached tentative agreements on a contract with the University of California.
“These tentative agreements include major pay increases and expanded benefits which will improve the quality of life for all members of the bargaining unit,” says UAW President Ray Curry. “Our members stood up to show the university that academic workers are vital to UC’s success. They deserve nothing less than a contract that reflects the important role they play and the reality of working in cities with extremely high costs of living.”
Members will vote on ratifying the agreements next week. “UAW members at UC stood together for equity and a fair contract. The support poured in from day one and continues to today,” adds Region 6 Director Mike Miller. “We look forward to hearing from members during the upcoming ratification process.”
Newly elected UAW International Executive Board members were sworn in today and the following assignments were announced:
President’s Office: Black Lake, Civil and Human Rights, International Affairs, Legislative, National CAP, Michigan CAP, Retired Workers, Public Relations/Strategic Campaigns, Research, Legal, Social Security, Education, Health and Safety, Veterans, Arbitration and Sourcing, Heavy Truck, Aerospace, General Dynamics, Skilled Trades and Women’s. The President also has oversight over administrative departments such as Human Resources, Information Technology Systems, Travel, Compliance, Appeals, Bylaws, Policy, Administrative Letters and Security.
EV/Transnational Bargaining
Organizing (IPS, EV, Transnational, Assembly, Higher Ed and EV-Joint Ventures)
Secretary-Treasurer’s Office: Accounting, Purchasing, Auditing, Strike Assistance, Benefits/Pensions, Investments, Union Building Corp, Facilities, Auto/Labor Leader Insurance, and Internal Audit.
Technical Office Professionals (TOP)
Stellantis
Independent Parts Supplier (IPS)
General Motors
Gaming, Gaming Organizing
Ford
Agricultural Implement
Chaplaincy
Run-off elections for three IEB members (president, vice president and region 9 director) will be conducted next year. Ballots will start to be mailed out January 12th, 2023.
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UAW Members of Local 5810 at the University of California voted to ratify their contracts by overwhelming margins. The final count was 89.4% of Postdocs and 79.5% of Academic Researchers voting yes in favor of ratification.
UAW Local 5810 is the union of more than 11,000 Postdoctoral Scholars and Academic Researchers (Project Scientists, Specialists, Professional Researchers, and Coordinators of Public Programs) at all 10 campuses of the University of California and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
Under their new agreements, UC Postdocs and Academic researchers have won salary increases that address the soaring cost of living and reflect the value of their contributions at UC. Both Postdocs and Academic Researchers won 8 weeks of paid family and parental leave at full pay, and secured industry-standard setting protections against bullying and abusive conduct. The tentative agreements also include new rights for international scholars and for Postdocs and Academic Researchers with disabilities.
“This represents a great victory for not only these members but other workers in higher education as we continue to lift the standards for academic workers,” says UAW President Ray Curry. “These members showed their power to UC during the strike and brought home an agreement that was very strongly supported by their membership.”
UAW Local 5810 members along with members of UAW Local 2865 (Academic Student Employees) and Student Researchers United-UAW have been on strike since November 14. UAW Local 2865 and SRU-UAW members have agreed to a mediation process with UC. While mediation proceeds, they will remain on strike.
“Two important units representing over 35,000 academic workers remain without an agreement, and we stand by their decision to seek mediation,” adds Region 8 Director Mitchell Smith. “These workers deserve an equitable agreement that reflects their contributions as well as the reality that they work in high-cost communities. We urge the University of California to work with all parties to reach a fair and equitable outcome.”
“We are all deeply angered by Stellantis’ s decision to idle the Belvidere Assembly plant without a plan for future product,” says UAW Vice President and Director of the Stellantis Department Cindy Estrada. “There are many vehicle platforms imported from other countries that could be built in Belvidere with skill and quality by UAW members at Belvidere. The transition to electrification also creates opportunities for new product. Companies like Stellantis receive billions in government incentives to transition to clean energy. It is an insult to all taxpayers that they are not investing that money back into our communities.”
“We believe Stellantis is grossly misguided in idling this plant which has produced profits for the company since 1965,” adds UAW President Ray Curry. “Not allocating new product to plants like Belvidere is unacceptable. Announcing the closure just a few weeks from the holidays is also a cruel disregard for the contributions of our members from UAW Locals 1268 and 1761. We will fight back against this announcement.”
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