Breaking with the long-standing custom of the “handshake ceremony” with the auto executives of the Big Three auto makers to open contract talks, United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain as an alternative speaks with and does “members’ handshakes” with Stellantis employees on the Stellantis Sterling Heights Assembly Plant on July 12, 2023 in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The UAW opens auto contract negotiations with Stellantis at the moment, Ford on July 14, and General Motors on July 18. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images News | Getty Images
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain on Monday mentioned the White House could have no function in brokering an settlement to finish the autoworkers’ strike because the walkout enters its fourth day with no decision in sight.
“No, not at all,” Fain mentioned when requested on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” whether or not the White House may assist the union and General Motors, Ford and Stellantis attain a deal.
“This battle is not about the president,” Fain mentioned. “It’s not about the former president or any other person prior to that. This battle is about the workers standing up for economic and social justice and getting their fair share because they’re fed up with going backwards.”
Fain’s feedback come after President Joe Biden mentioned on Friday that he would ship performing Labor Secretary Julie Su and White House senior advisor Gene Sperling to Detroit to assist mediate the negotiations.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed CNBC in an interview Monday that the White House needs a “win-win” deal. “The two sides need to narrow their disagreements and to work for a contract that’s good for the workers and for the industry as well,” Yellen mentioned.
The strike has entered its fourth day with no decision in sight. Nearly 13,000 UAW members are on strike at three key crops in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio.
Biden, who’s up for reelection subsequent yr, typically touts his blue-collar roots and has sought to intently affiliate himself with the labor motion, however the strikes will check these credentials if the dispute is left unresolved and triggers broader financial disruption. Former President Donald Trump can also be courting help from UAW members, whereas attacking the union’s leaders, as he pursues one other time period within the White House.
Biden largely sided with the putting employees in his temporary tackle Friday, calling on the automakers to share the document income they’ve made in recent times.
“Those record profits have not been shared fairly, in my view, with the workers,” the president mentioned.
The autoworkers are demanding a 40% hourly wage enhance, a 32-hour workweek, elimination of compensation tiers, a return to conventional pensions, the restoration of cost-of-living changes in addition to higher trip and household depart advantages amongst different objects.
Where do issues stand?
Fain on Monday mentioned the union and the automakers stay “far apart” on a number of points. He particularly referred to as out compensation tiers, wherein employees are paid otherwise for a similar job.
“We have been very clear from the onset that we want to end tiers,” Fain informed MSNBC. “You have workers on the line doing the same job for severely different rates of pay and there’s no excuse for that.”
The UAW president mentioned the union’s members are ready to escalate: “If the companies don’t respond to the members’ demands then we have to do what we have to do.”
The automakers have mentioned the union’s calls for would cripple the businesses and put them at a drawback in contrast non-unionized automobile producers. Ford CEO Jim Farley mentioned in an interview with CNBC on Thursday that the automaker would have gone bankrupt underneath the UAW’s present calls for.
Ford on Friday briefly laid off 600 employees who usually are not putting at its meeting plant in Wayne, Michigan. GM has mentioned its meeting plant in Fairfax, Missouri ought to shut down as quickly as this week, impacting 2,000 employees.
Trump on Friday accused the UAW management of failing its members and claimed Biden administration’s efforts to transition to electrical automobiles would end in manufacturing jobs shifting to China.
“The autoworkers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should endorse Trump,” Trump, who’s the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, informed NBC News in an interview.
Source: www.cnbc.com”
