UAW Statement in Support of Inflation Reduction Act

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is an important bill for our country and working families. It makes critical investments in U.S manufacturing to help ensure new vehicles and emerging technologies and are built in America for decades to come, lowers the costs of life-saving drugs and health care insurance, tackles climate change in a meaningful way, and reduces the deficit.

The Inflation Reduction Act puts the interests of working families and retirees before the ultra-wealthy and Wall Street. It is paid for entirely by giving IRS tools to go after wealthy tax cheats and ending outrageous tax loopholes that have benefitted tax dodging corporations and millionaires for far too long.

The bill will not raise taxes on manufacturing workers. Five former Treasury Secretaries, including Hank Paulson who served under Republican President George W. Bush, signed a statement strongly backing the Inflation Reduction Act. They noted it is “… financed by prudent tax policy that will collect more from top-earners and large corporations. Taxes due or paid will not increase for any family making less than $400,000/year.”

This legislation directly addresses many of the causes of inflation, such as the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs. It is an issue that UAW members, their families, and retirees have faced at the bargaining table and the pharmacy counter for many decades. We firmly believe that access to affordable health care should be a right and not a privilege and the Inflation Reduction Act is an important step in that direction.

For these reasons, the UAW proudly supports the Inflation Reduction Act and asks every member of Congress to vote for it so President Biden can make it the law of the land.