The UAW is starting to shore up support before the union’s contract expires in 30 days in Metro Detroit. Starting next week, union locals will vote to authorize leaders to call a strike.
You can tell we’re approaching the end of the UAW national contract because that’s when the union asks its membership for its permission to strike should things not go well at the bargaining table.
UAW President Shawn Fain is shaking things up and making no bones about what he believes his membership wants.
“I’m going to put this in the trash where it belongs,” said Fain.
Depending on your point of view, Fain’s given to what historically would be considered outrageous theatrics or telling it like it is.
He’ll return to Facebook Live with a membership update stating that negotiations haven’t moved past non-economic issues.
In a statement Tuesday (Aug. 15) afternoon, he said the strike authorization vote was expected to start on Sunday.
“Whether or not there’s a strike next month is entirely up to the big three automakers,” Fain said. “Our priorities are clear, the companies can afford them, and there’s plenty of time for the big three to get serious about these negotiations.”
Wayne State University Industry Analyst and Union Expert Dr. Marick Masters told Local 4:
“What they want to accentuate is that this is a new world that they’re coming into, and they want a different type of bargain.”
That new world means the transition to electric vehicles, and masters believe that has much to do with the slow progress amping up strike possibilities.
“The reality is that if you go out on strike, it becomes an immediate test of economic power and who has the willingness to withstand the losses more than the other, and I think, in general, the advantage is to the employer because they are a legal entity of a larger size with a greater cushion,” Masters said.
The UAW represents 150,000 union line workers. They have more than $800 million set aside in their strike fund, and the union will tell you it has the wherewithal to outlast the companies. Strikers get $500 a week from that fund.