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Starting out by announcing new offers from the Big Three automakers, United Auto Workers International President Shawn Fain updated the membership on Oct. 20 of ongoing negotiations on the 34th day of the union’s history-making simultaneous strike against all Big Three U.S. automakers.
Fain also tried to reassure rank and file members that the union’s path to victory is solidarity, while noting that no tentative agreements have been reached with the auto companies as of now. Fain accused the automakers of scare tactics with union membership.
“Everything they do is in the service of fragmenting our membership,” said Fain, referring to media appearances by corporate auto executives indicating the ongoing strike was destroying the industry. “In the opinion of your national negotiators, there is more to be won.”
In a recent appearance by Ford Motor Company Executive, and great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, CEO Bill Ford announced that the UAW should team up with Ford and fight “the real enemy” of foreign auto manufacturers.
“We won’t be used in this phony competition,” said Fain in response. “We will always be on the side of working people everywhere. Non-union auto workers are not the enemy; those are our future union family. Since the strike began, thousands of non-union auto workers have reached out wanting to join our union.”
On the subject of GM and Stellantis, both of which have facilities in Kokomo, Fain stated that the companies put serious offers on the bargaining table, “Because they know if they don’t move, there will be serious consequences,” said Fain. He then presented several slides with comparisons of the negotiation’s gains and items that still need agreements.
According to Fain, GM and Stellantis still have contentious points: the right to strike due to plant closings; the elimination of two-tiered pay for newer hires; and increases in legacy retiree pensions. The latter negotiating point led the UAW President to remark, “I wonder how workers in Sterling Heights and Kokomo feel about that?”
Fain concluded, “The bottom line is, we’ve got cards left to play, and they have money left to spend. They want to wait us out. They want to divide us. They want uncertainty. What we have is our solidarity. We have plans. We have strategies to keep winning at the table.”