Democrats welcome Biden’s upcoming visit to the picket lines in Michigan

Biden’s visit to Michigan — which labor experts say may be the first time a sitting president has visited a strike in at least 100 years — will come a day before his expected rival in the 2024 presidential race, former President Donald Trump, plans to offer his own strike. Speech to hundreds of union members in Michigan.

“President Biden is doing what he’s always done, which is standing up for American workers,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. Defending the president’s decision to visit, Buttigieg added that reaching a strong agreement would be a “win-win” for both parties: “Record profits should lead to record wages and record benefits for workers.”

On CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) also praised Biden’s trip as a “historic event” justified by “the crisis of inequality in our economy.”

Asked about the UAW leadership’s decision to withhold Biden’s endorsement for now, Ocasio-Cortez said, “This has to be earned,” adding, “President Biden is working on that, especially when he gets to Michigan on Tuesday to earn that.”

Advance north of the border

The strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis began on September 15 at three auto manufacturing plants in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio, which assemble the Ford Bronco, Chevrolet Colorado and Jeep Wrangler.

Friday’s expansion of the strike focused on warehouses that send parts to dealerships and other vehicle repair sites. The move could increase pressure on GM and Stellantis because more American drivers looking for these parts may feel the consequences of closed locations across the country: Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Orlando, Boston, Reno and others.

Find out where UAW workers are going on strike or being temporarily laid off

Negotiations between Ford and Unifor, the union that represents 5,400 Ford employees in Canada, were taking place in parallel with the UAW’s bargaining with the Big Three in the United States.

Unifor announced on Sunday that 54% of workers voted in favor of ratifying a contract that includes wage increases of approximately 20% over three years for production workers, along with the restoration of cost-of-living allowances. Unifor said it is focused on reaching an agreement with Ford first, an agreement that could serve as a model before talks with GM and Stellantis begin.

Canadian Ford workers you will receive A 10% pay rise in the first year of their contract, faster promotions to the highest wages, pension improvements, and the first cost of living adjustments since 2008.

Talks on the US side also continued with Ford on Sunday, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private negotiations, but it was not clear whether the two sides continued to meet with Stellantis and GM.

UAW President Shawn Fain said the union will not expand the strike against Ford for now, because negotiations are progressing and the company has made more concessions. These agreements include Ford agreeing to reinstate cost-of-living wage adjustments and introducing new terms related to job security. However, the union is continuing its current strike against a Ford plant in Michigan.

For its part, Ford said Friday that it is working “diligently with the UAW to reach an agreement that rewards our workforce and enables Ford to invest in a vibrant, growing future.” “Although we are making progress in some areas, we still have significant gaps to close on key economic issues,” Ford added. Ultimately, the issues are interconnected and must work within a comprehensive agreement that supports our mutual success.”

The problem is with pay levels

The reason for the new focus on warehouse workers is that they are often paid less than assembly plant workers, with those hired after 2015 capped at $25 an hour after eight years of work, Fine said. Although GM has offered to shift these workers into the higher wage tier, the union also wants cost-of-living adjustments and other job security provisions for these workers.

Two striking UAW workers in the same factory, living very different lives

On Friday, about a dozen workers demonstrated outside a General Motors parts facility in an industrial park in Rancho Cucamonga, California, which employs 72 people. They wore T-shirts that said “COLA and Fair Pay Now” and waved signs with slogans like “Save the American Dream.”

One worker, Wornell Mitchell, said he had worked with General Motors for about five years and earned $55,000 annually when accounting for bonuses and overtime. He described working in the warehouse as a “labor-intensive job,” with workers spending all day on their feet, with a 30-minute lunch break and an additional 20-minute break.

“Our wages don’t reflect what the company has generated in revenue,” said Mitchell, vice president of Local 6645. “They want to keep our wages low” even as CEOs and other top officials do their jobs at the banks.

“I honestly think they’re out of touch with reality,” he said of the company’s leaders. “They’re not the ones doing the work” that supports their paychecks.

The union seeks a 36% wage increase over four years, improved retirement benefits, and increased paid leave and other benefits. Full-time workers in the UAW today earn between $18 and $32 an hour, plus annual profit-sharing bonuses that have totaled tens of thousands of dollars per worker over the past four years. Temporary workers earn between $16 and $19 per hour and do not receive bonuses.

All automakers are offering raises of about 20 percent over four years and other concessions that they say constitute their best offers in decades. They argue that they cannot meet all of the UAW’s demands and remain viable companies able to invest in the new plants needed for the costly transition to electric vehicles.

GM called Friday’s strike escalation “unnecessary” and accused union leaders of “manipulating the negotiation process to advance their personal agendas.”

“We have now presented five separate economic proposals that are considered historic,” the company said. The company said the 20 percent raise in its latest offer would boost 85 percent of GM’s UAW workforce to base pay earnings of $82,000 annually by the end of the decade. It also offers two weeks of paid paternity leave and other benefits.

Stellantis said it had submitted a new proposal with non-economic proposals to the UAW on Thursday but did not receive a response. She said the 20 percent pay raise offer would boost all full-time UAW workers to earnings of $80,000 to $96,000 annually by the end of the decade. The company also questioned whether union leadership was interested in reaching an agreement in a timely manner.