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Today, the UAW released a new political video highlighting the corporate greed and price gouging behind the surging cost of basic needs. As part of the Stand Up movement, the union is activating tens of thousands of its members in Michigan and other key battleground states to turn out the vote for endorsed candidates in 2024 including the Harris-Walz presidential ticket.
The video can be accessed here and the media is invited to use the footage.
“Corporate profits are up because greedy corporations are price gouging the hell out of the working class,” narrates UAW President Shawn Fain. “You’re paying more for a gallon of milk so a CEO can buy another yacht.”
The video breaks down facts about inflation and corporate price gouging, including how:
- 53% of inflation was driven by corporate profits alone
- New car prices went up 30% while workers’ wages remained stagnant
- Price of gas went up $1 per gallon since 2020 while Exxon raked in over $36 billion in profits in 2023
- General Mills profits went up 16.5% while they brag to investors about getting smart about how we look at pricing
- Delta announced a 30% increase in airfare while their CEO gets a 250% raise
The video’s full transcript via President Shawn Fain is available here:
Walter Reuther once said that there is a direct relationship between the ballot box and the bread box and that couldn’t be any truer now.
We have a cost-of-living crisis in this country, from the gas pump to the grocery store, from your car to your rent to your medical bills, costs are going higher and higher.
If you listen to the corporate media and the pundits, you’ll hear a million explanations. They’ll say wages are too high. We know that’s B.S. They’ll say government policy causes inflation.
So why are prices sky high? Because corporations are jacking up prices. And why do they do it? Corporate greed.
Wherever there’s a crisis or emergency, working class people are always looking for a way to help and support one another, while the billionaire class is looking for a way to extract more wealth.
When working class America was hit by the economic disruption of the pandemic, corporate America started seeing dollar signs. One study showed that 53% of the inflation was driven by corporate profits alone.
What does that look like in practice? It looks like the price of a new car going up by 30% while wages remained stagnant. It looks like the price of gas rising more than a dollar a gallon since 2020.
So, while we’re feeling the pain at the pump, Exxon raked in more than $36 billion in profits last year. It looks like General Mills profits going up 16.5%, while they brag to investors about getting smart about how we look at pricing. That’s not smart. That’s price gouging. It looks like Delta announcing a 30% increase in airfare, while their CEO gets a 250% raise.
So, when a billionaire tells you that inflation is due to Joe Biden or government spending or regulations or because wages are too high, they’re full of it. That billionaire is pocketing those price increases and laughing all the way to the bank.
Corporate profits are up because greedy corporations are price gouging the hell out of the working class. You’re paying more for a gallon of milk so a CEO can buy another yacht.
If we’re going to fix the cost-of-living crisis, if we’re going to give working class Americans a shot at a decent life, we’re going to have to take on Wall Street and corporate America head on. That means electing candidates that are champions for the people who have stood shoulder to shoulder with striking workers fighting for a better life. That’s candidates like Kamala Harris.
It also means defeating candidates who serve the billionaire class, like their lapdog, Donald Trump, who takes $45 million a month in campaign contributions from his puppet master, Elon Musk.
It also means that on November 5th, our union is ready to keep fighting for the working class and an economy that benefits all of us, no matter who is in office.
As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s continued commitment to its Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded UAW Region 6 and the UAW Center for Manufacturing a Green Economy (UAW-CMGE) $2 million to further develop the High Road Battery Training Program in partnership with the Sparkz corporation.
The UAW-CMGE is one of 21 new projects recently selected by the DOE to receive a total of $24 million in funding to expand clean energy and support sustainable manufacturing in the U.S.
The UAW-CMGE was created in 2023 to lead the union’s recruitment and training for careers in climate manufacturing, empowering a well-trained, mission-driven green workforce to meet the growing needs of manufacturing operations created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
“The UAW-CMGE is developing a groundbreaking training model for rapidly growing climate industries, starting with the critically important domestic battery industry,” Priyanka Mohanty, Executive Director of the UAW-CMGE, said about the $2 million investment. “Our model, which focuses on equitable recruitment, technical battery knowledge, and the build-out of innovative new green apprenticeship programs, represents the high-road pathway central to the climate transition. This model will empower and protect workers on the shop floor, ensure that their voices are amplified, and build a just transition towards new, diverse, climate industries. The DOE’s 2 million dollar investment in the UAW and our center highlights the importance of high-road training programs to decarbonization, and we look forward to showing that an investment in workers is an investment in the American climate economy.”
“The UAW has shown the central role of an empowered manufacturing workforce in American decarbonization,” said Mike Miller, Chairperson, UAW-CMGE and UAW Region 6 Director. “The 2023 UAW’s contract negotiations with the Big 3 automakers were a seismic event in the struggle for a just transition. The strike brought thousands of EV and battery jobs under union national agreements with strong job quality protections and billion-dollar investments in the retooling of previously closed facilities. It showed the country that manufacturing electric vehicles and batteries – critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building new climate industries – can and must be built with good union jobs. The UAW wants to bring the expertise in training, workforce development, and good job creation to new green and advanced manufacturing production because it understands the critical importance of a just transition to broader decarbonization efforts.”
In 2023 the UAW and Sparkz announced they had signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a national labor-management agreement and statement of neutrality at the manufacturer’s the manufacturer’s facilities.
Sparkz, founded in 2019, develops and produces zero-cobalt, American-made Lithium-ion batteries. Eliminating cobalt from the battery-making process reduces the cost of producing lithium batteries and also addresses environmental concerns.
The UAW has filed federal labor charges against disgraced billionaires Donald Trump and Elon Musk for their illegal attempts to threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves by engaging in protected concerted activity, such as strikes.
After significant technical delays on X, formerly known as Twitter, Trump and Musk had a rambling, disorganized conversation on Monday evening in front of over one million listeners in which they advocated for the illegal firing of striking workers.
“I mean, I look at what you do,” Trump told Musk. “You walk in, you say, You want to quit? They go on strike, I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, That’s OK, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone.”
Under federal law, workers cannot be fired for going on strike, and threatening to do so is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act.
“When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean. When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected. Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It’s disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns.”
The UAW has released a new video highlighting the sharp contrast between Donald Trump’s rhetoric and Kamala Harris’ proven track record in delivering for autoworkers, with a focus on Lordstown, Ohio.
“Donald Trump is all talk and no action when it comes to delivering for autoworkers,” says UAW President Shawn Fain. “Thanks to Vice President Harris and President Biden, Lordstown workers are returning to their hometown. That’s what it means to deliver for American autoworkers.”
The video can be accessed here, and the media is invited to use the footage.
While Trump promised to bring jobs back to Ohio, he oversaw the closure of Lordstown Assembly and did nothing to support autoworkers fighting for good jobs before, during, or after his presidency. Kamala Harris not only stood with striking autoworkers in 2019, but helped bring back good union auto jobs to Lordstown at Ultium Cells.
The new video comes on the heels of a two major Harris-Walz campaign events with the UAW in Michigan, following the union’s endorsement of Harris for President last week.
In a new video, UAW President Shawn Fain outlines the stakes of this election, and the UAW’s political strategy centered on building working class unity to take on Donald Trump and the billionaire class, building off of the Stand Up Strike victories of 2023.
The video can be accessed here, and the media is invited to use the footage.
“What we win or lose now,” says UAW President Shawn Fain, “will impact every single contract negotiation, every new organizing campaign, whether we go forwards or backwards for a generation. Everything is at stake.”
“Last fall, America’s autoworkers said it was time to stand up. We united the entire working class. That’s the winning formula.”
“The dream of a man like Donald Trump is that the vast majority of working-class people will remain divided. They divide us by race. They divide us by gender, by who we love, or where we were born. That’s the game of the wealthy: divide and conquer.”
“There is only one answer to the threat we face as a nation. The answer is solidarity.”
The new video comes on the heels of a two major Harris-Walz campaign events with the UAW in Michigan, following the union’s endorsement of Harris for President last week.
DETROIT – The UAW released a new video today endorsing Kamala Harris for President of the United States. The video highlights the stark contrast between the candidates: Donald Trump, who is a scab and a lapdog for the billionaires, and Kamala Harris, who has stood with working people and walked a picket line. The media is invited to use the video on the union’s Facebook page, YouTube channel and Twitter account.
UAW President Shawn Fain narrates, “Whether at the workplace, or at the ballot box, we’re done falling behind. We’re ready to stand up.”
“In 2024, we’ve got a choice. We can put a billionaire back in office and let him and his buddies get even richer. Or we can elect somebody who’s ready to stand with us. Somebody who’s walked a picket line.”
On Wednesday, the UAW International Executive Board voted to endorse Kamala Harris for President, and will join Harris for a mass rally in Detroit on Wednesday, August 7th, with a visit with UAW members to follow.
The video’s full transcript is available here:
Look around you.
We live in the wealthiest country in the history of the world.
We’ve got enough food for every plate.
Enough doctors for every patient.
And enough jobs for every family.
So why do working class Americans have to scrape to get by paycheck to paycheck?
Everything the working class has ever won, we’ve had to fight for.
And every time we win an inch, the billionaires want to take back a mile.
Whether at the workplace, or at the ballot box.
We’re done falling behind. We’re ready to stand up.
And we need a President who’s ready to stand with us.
In 2024, we’ve got a choice.
We can put a billionaire back in office
and let him and his buddies get even richer.
Or we can elect somebody who’s ready to stand with us.
Somebody who’s walked a picket line.
Somebody who’s on our side.
We know which side we’re on.
We’re voting for Kamala Harris in 2024
Because she’s walked the walk.
Because she supports working class people when we fight for more.
And because we don’t need another billionaire in the White House.
Donald Trump is no friend of the working class.
Donald Trump is a scab.
I’m a UAW member, and I’m voting for Kamala Harris for President.
On Wednesday, July 31, the UAW International Executive Board voted to endorse Kamala Harris for President of the United States. Her historic candidacy builds on the Biden-Harris administration’s proven track record of standing with the UAW and delivering major gains for the working class.
Years before the Stand Up Strike, Kamala Harris walked the picket line with striking autoworkers in 2019, has taken on corporate price-gouging and profiteering, and has spoken out and voted against unfair trade deals that hurt the American worker like NAFTA and NAFTA 2.0, the USMCA.
On Wednesday, August 7th, the Harris for President campaign will come to Detroit to rally with UAW members, Michigan voters, and thousands of working class people who are fighting for a better future. Vice President Harris will also meet directly with UAW members and leaders to hear about the issues that matter to Michigan workers.
“Our job in this election is to defeat Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris to build on her proven track record of delivering for the working class,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “We stand at a crossroads in this country. We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris who will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed. This campaign is bringing together people from all walks of life, building a movement that can defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box. For our one million active and retired members, the choice is clear: We will elect Kamala Harris to be our next President this November.”
Today, the United Auto Workers thanks President Joe Biden for his incredible term of service, and the leadership he has shown in putting country before self, once again, in passing the torch to a new generation.
Joe Biden made history by joining us on our picket line last September and has stood shoulder to shoulder with the working class throughout his term in office. Vice President Kamala Harris walked the picket line with us in 2019, and along with President Biden has brought work and jobs back to communities like Lordstown, Ohio, and Belvidere, Illinois. That’s the legacy President Biden leaves, and that’s the work we will continue to build on as a union. While Donald Trump lies about rebuilding the auto industry, the fact is that while he was in office, autoworkers in Lordstown were left for dead by GM in 2019 while he said and did nothing.
The path forward is clear: we will defeat Donald Trump and his billionaire agenda and elect a champion for the working class to the highest office in this country. We will speak truth to power about the issues that matter to the working class: a living wage, decent healthcare, a dignified retirement, and taking our lives and our time back. And we will Stand Up for our members and the whole working class in the fight for economic and social justice on and off the job.
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