The much-anticipated contract talks between the United Auto Workers union and every of the Detroit Three automakers can be lacking a customary element: the ceremonial handshake between the UAW president and every automaker’s CEO.
New UAW President Shawn Fain’s been trying to shake issues up between the union and the Detroit Three automakers since assuming the publish earlier this 12 months. A little bit of a throwback, Fain’s abandoning the longtime custom trying to make a press release.
“The members come first,” UAW President Shawn Fain stated Monday in a press release. “I’ll shake hands with the CEOs when they come to the table with a deal that reflects the needs of the workers who make this industry run. When the 150,000 autoworkers at Ford, GM, and Stellantis receive the respect they are due for their sacrifice in generating the historic profits of the past decade, then we can proceed with a handshake.”
Talks with Stellantis start Thursday, adopted by Ford on Friday and General Motors on July 18, in keeping with the union.
Change is within the wind
The transfer to skip the handshake is totally inline with Fain’s militant strategy, which is paying homage to previous powerful speaking UAW leaders like Stephen Yokich, Owen Bieber, Doug Fraser. However, latest union presidents have been much less firebrand and extra businessman.
Fain defeated incumbent Ray Curry, the candidate of the long-dominant Administration Caucus, in a runoff election in March. Curry is the primary union president elected underneath new guidelines put in place after two earlier presidents have been convicted of crimes involving monetary malfeasance.
In all, a dozen high UAW executives have been convicted of a wide range of crimes, giving minority voices — like Fain’s — the megaphone they wanted to be heard by the union membership. During his marketing campaign, Fain, who speaks with a particular Hoosier twang, ran on a platform distilled to the slogan, “No more corruption, no more tiers and no more concessions.”
From the beginning, Fain wished the union to carve out an impartial and extra militant path in bargaining, significantly with Detroit’s automakers which are caught up in a historic transformation to electrical autos. He additionally promised a brand new sort of relationship with automakers, one which concerned a lot much less giving and rather more getting.
“We now have a historic opportunity to get back to setting the standard across all sectors, and to transform the UAW into a member-led, fighting union once again, and we are going to take it. The future of the working class is at stake,” he stated.
What to anticipate
Thus far, he’s been a person of his phrase. He’s been an equal alternative “offender,” criticizing Ford, General Motors and Stellantis in equal measure since getting the highest job. Taking a jab at recognized powerful man Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares earlier this 12 months.
“If Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares thinks he can fly over here to threaten our members about product and absenteeism, that is a problem,” stated Fain, in reference to feedback suggesting the shutdown of the corporate’s plant in Belvidere, Illnois, occurred because of the situation. “We had some very stern conversations with Stellantis last week.”
Since taking on as UAW president on the finish of March, Fain famous he has meet with the senior administration at each GM and Ford and described the preliminary conferences as “cordial and respectful.”
“I made it very clear; we expect our members not to get lost in the transition to electric vehicles,” stated Fain, including job safety, the elimination of wage tier and wage will increase can be on the high of the union’s checklist of calls for this coming summer time.
Fain dismissed what he described because the narrative larger wages will make Detroit’s carmakers much less aggressive with non-union firms.
“Our members deserve better,” he stated throughout the hourlong zoom assembly with the APA members through which he stated he believes union members anticipate the UAW’s management to take a more durable line with employers.
“We were elected to change things,” he stated. “It’s not about being adversarial, it’s about respect,” added Fain, who stated one in all targets is rebuild the ability of the “working class” within the United States.
Source: www.thedetroitbureau.com