On September 15, the United Auto Workers began a targeted strike against Ford, GM, and Stellantis (the conglomerate that includes Chrysler) in an effort to secure higher wages, a four-day work week, and other protections in the union’s next contract. The strike is a huge development for American workers, but it’s also a big deal for President Joe Biden—these car companies are central to his green-infrastructure agenda. The union wants assurances that the industry’s historic, heavily subsidized transition toward electric vehicles will work for them, too.
Biden, whose National Labor Relations Board has been an ally of labor organizers in fights against companies such as Amazon and Starbucks, has called himself “the most pro-union president in American history.” He has expressed support for the UAW’s cause (workers “deserve their fair share of the benefits they helped create,” he said last week) and has sent aides to Michigan to assist in the negotiations.
I don’t know if I’d say it was small and they didn’t touch the biggest stuff – the companies and unions had actually come to an agreement in late Fall. The problem was the negotiators hadn’t actually understood their members’ priorities though. The deal gave like 1 sick day with several restrictions on usage, and significant salary increases over the next several years.
Union members pushed back, and said the PTO wasn’t enough. This is when Union leadership had come back extolling the medical benefits they had secured.
Sick days were a huge part of what the members wanted.