, , ,

UAW Statement on Ford’s Net Income Soaring to $1.9 Billion in the Second Quarter

Ford Motor Company far outpaced analysts’ expectations in the second quarter, reporting that its net income nearly tripled from a year ago to $1.9 billion.

For the full year, Ford expects adjusted EBIT of $11 billion to $12 billion. That’s a significant increase over the $9 billion to $11 billion Ford had predicted last quarter. In 2022, Ford’s adjusted EBIT was $10.4 billion, so even the company’s lower guidance exceeds last year’s results.

The 150,000 UAW members at Ford, GM and Stellantis began negotiations for a new contract with the Big Three automakers this month. All three companies have now reported gaudy earnings for the second quarter. (See the UAW’s statements about the second quarter earnings of General Motors and Stellantis.) The car companies’ current contract with the UAW expires on Sept. 14.

UAW President Shawn Fain Released the Following Statement:

“Like every Big Three automaker, Ford is thriving. These eye-popping numbers come on top of a decade of massive profits. The Big Three made a quarter-trillion dollars in North American profits over the last decade, but they denied UAW members our fair share. No Ford worker should be stuck in a lower-tier job, without the good pay and pension that generations of autoworkers fought for. No Ford worker should wonder if the Blue Oval battery plants opening across the country will start a race to the bottom that undermines standards for all autoworkers. Seeing the billions that Ford is making, we know they can and must make things right for our workers and our communities.”

, ,

UAW STATEMENT ON STELLANTIS REPORTING RECORD PROFITS FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2023

This morning, Stellantis reported record profits for the first half of 2023, posting $12.1 billion (10.9 billion euros) in net profit. That’s a 37 percent increase over last year.

Only 33 percent of Stellantis’ global workforce is in North America, yet workers here made the bulk of the automaker’s operating income: 57 percent of the automaker’s $15.7 billion (14.1 billion euros) in operating income was made in North America.

The 150,000 UAW members at Stellantis, Ford and General Motors began negotiations for a new contract with the three automakers this month. Altogether, the Big Three companies made a quarter-trillion dollars in North American profits over the last decade. The automakers’ current contract with the UAW expires on Sept. 14.

UAW President Shawn Fain made the following statement today:

“There are healthy profits and then there are obscene profits. These record profits are obscene, and they come off the backs of underpaid workers and broken communities. Our workers got raises of just 6 percent over the last four years even as CEO Tavares saw his compensation soar 72 percent. As Stellantis made its megaprofits, it kept our assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois sitting idle. Workers who’ve given their lives to the company have no idea what the future holds.

“Stellantis said today that they’re pouring a staggering $1.7 billion (1.5 billion euros) into a stock buyback scheme that artificially inflates the value of shares, further enriching company executives and the top 1%. That is $1.7 billion being robbed from the workers who made those profits possible and the latest in a long line of examples of how corporate greed is plundering our communities. It’s time for Stellantis to pony up and make things right for working families.”

UAW Vice President Rich Boyer, director of the union’s Stellantis department, issued the following statement:

“Stellantis counted its huge profit in euros, but it’s our workers in North America who made most of that money. Our workers are the profit engine for the company, but we’ve been getting the shaft for years. Even when plants like Belvidere make high-quality product and solid profits, Stellantis executives shut them down. These numbers show there’s no excuse for that kind of cruelty anymore. Our workers are fired up and we’re going to win what we and our communities deserve.”

, ,

UAW STATEMENT ABOUT GENERAL MOTORS’ SECOND QUARTER EARNINGS SURGING 39% TO $3.2 BILLION

DETROIT – General Motors reported adjusted earnings of $3.2 billion in the second quarter, up 39% over last year and driven almost entirely by North American profits.

The Wall Street Journal reported that GM’s quarterly revenue was $44.7 billion, 25% more than last year and “a post-bankruptcy record.” GM far exceeded analysts’ expectations and raised its full-year adjusted earnings forecast to between $12 billion and $14 billion.

The 150,000 UAW members at GM, Ford and Stellantis began negotiations for a new contract with the three automakers this month. Altogether, the Big Three made a quarter-trillion dollars in North American profits over the last decade. The car companies’ current contract with the UAW expires on Sept. 14.

UAW President Shawn Fain made the following statement today:

“General Motors has made mind boggling profits over the last decade. GM’s recently announced quarterly earnings just set a post-bankruptcy record, but autoworkers and our communities have yet to be made whole for the sacrifices we’ve made since the Great Recession. GM executives have closed 31 plants over the last 20 years and are now enriching themselves through joint venture battery plants that get billions from the federal government in taxpayer subsidies but pay poverty wages. It’s long past time for GM to pony up, end tiers, pay their employees competitive wages that keep up with the cost of living and provide everyone the ability to retire with dignity.”

UAW Vice President Mike Booth, Director of the union’s GM Department, issued this statement:

“The enormous profit General Motors announced today does not happen without the great work of our UAW-GM Members building world-class vehicles, right here in the U.S.A. For a decade now, UAW members have been GM’s profit engine. It’s time for a contract that fully rewards our members for the hard work we do.”

,

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.”

, ,

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.

,

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.”

 

, , , , ,

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.”

, , , ,

STATEMENT FROM UAW PRESIDENT SHAWN FAIN ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GIVING FORD $9.2 BILLION LOAN WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED

Yesterday, the federal government announced a massive $9.2 billion giveaway loan to Ford Motor Co. through the Department of Energy to create 7,500 low-road jobs with no consideration for wages, working conditions, union rights or retirement security. This handout may further enrich Ford shareholders, but it shortchanges communities and the UAW members who produce Ford’s vehicles, powertrains and record-breaking profits.

UAW President Shawn Fain’s response below:

“We have been absolutely clear that the switch to electric engine jobs, battery production and other EV manufacturing cannot become a race to the bottom. Not only is the federal government not using its power to turn the tide – they’re actively funding the race to the bottom with billions in public money.

“These companies are extremely profitable and will continue to make money hand over fist whether they’re selling combustion engines or EVs. Yet the workers get a smaller and smaller piece of the pie. Why is Joe Biden’s administration facilitating this corporate greed with taxpayer money?

“In the past five years, workers who build GM products in Lordstown, Ohio, have had their lives turned upside down as they were forced to retire, quit or uproot their families and move all over the United States when GM closed their plants despite massive profits. Their jobs were replaced in GM’s new joint-venture battery facility with jobs that pay half of what workers made at the previous Lordstown plant. Not only is the White House refusing to right this wrong, they’re giving Ford $9.2 billion to create the same low-road jobs in Kentucky and Tennessee.

“The last time the federal government gave the Big Three billions of dollars, the companies did the exact same thing: slash wages, cut jobs, and undermine the industry that for generations created the best jobs for working families in this country. Autoworkers and our families took the hit in 2009 in the name of saving the industry. We were never made whole, and it’s an absolute shame to see another Democratic administration doubling down on a taxpayer-funded corporate giveaway.”

, ,

UAW President’s Statement on Supreme Court Ruling on Glacier Northwest v. Teamsters

“While Corporate America cheers on another Supreme Court attack on workers’ rights, this ruling achieves nothing that would undermine the fundamental right to strike,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “Our members’ fight for justice on and off the job won’t be slowed by a court ruling or by corporate greed. While we’re disappointed to see the US Supreme Court once again try to legislate away the rights of working-class Americans, the UAW remains ready to take action, when necessary, to raise the standard for workers everywhere.”

, , , ,

UAW Statement on Job Cuts at Stellantis

“Stellantis’ push to cut thousands of jobs while raking in billions in profits is disgusting,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “This is a slap in the face to our members, their families, their communities, and the American people who saved this company 15 years ago. Even now, politicians and taxpayers are bankrolling the electric vehicle transition, and this is the thanks the working class gets. Shame on Stellantis.”

UAW Vice President Rich Boyer said “Our union is working around the clock to get justice for the members impacted by these job cuts. We look forward to Stellantis doing the right thing by the workers who make this company run.”

Stellantis made $18 billion in profits in 2022, and paid CEO Carlos Tavares $25 million.

UAW Logo

UAW SOLIDARITY HOUSE

8000 East Jefferson Avenue
Detroit, Michigan 48214

(313) 926-5000

Union Plus Logo

Connect

Organize

Latest News

“INVEST IN US”: UAW Slams Stellantis for Preparing Massive Pay Day for Wall Street While Thousands of Workers are Laid Off in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Beyond

People's Voice Winner Award
Webby Award Logo