UAW strike brings blue-collar vs. billionaire battle to Detroit

DETROIT
—
The
United
Auto
Workers
strike
is
bringing
a
blue-collar
versus
billionaire
battle
to
the
Motor
City,
just
as
UAW
President
Shawn
Fain
wanted.

The
outspoken
union
leader
has

weaponized
striking
—
historically
a
last
resort
for
the
union
—
after
less
than
24
hours
into
a
work
stoppage
arguably
better
than
any
UAW
president
has
in
modern
times.

It
wasn’t
by
accident.

Fain,
a
quirky
yet
emboldened
leader,
has
meticulously
brought
the
UAW

back
into
the
national
spotlight
after
decades
of
near
irrelevance.
He
wants
to
represent
not
just
union
members
but
also
America’s
embattled
middle
class,
which
UAW
helped
create.

To
do
so,
he
has
leveraged
a
yearslong
national
labor
movement
and
a
growing
disgust
for
wealthy
individuals
and
corporations
among
many
Americans
—
starting
with
his
first
time
addressing
the
union’s
more
than
400,000
members
during

his
inauguration
speech
in
March.

“We’re
here
to
come
together
to
ready
ourselves
for
the
war
against
our
only
one
and
only
true
enemy,
multibillion-dollar
corporations
and
employers
who
refuse
to
give
our
members
their
fair
share,”
Fain
said
at
the
time.
“It’s
a
new
day
in
the
UAW.”

Fain’s
comments
Friday
morning
as
he
joined
UAW
members
and
supporters

picketing
outside
a
Ford
plant
in
Michigan
—
one
of
three
facilities
the
company
is
currently
striking
—
echoed
everything
he
said
during
that
first
speech.

“We
got
to
do
what
we
got
to
do
to
get
our
share
of
economic
and
social
justice
in
this
strike,”
Fain
said
outside
the
Ford
Bronco
SUV
and
Ranger
pickup
plant.
“We’re
going
to
be
out
here
until
we
get
our
share
of
economic
justice.
And
it
doesn’t
matter
how
long
it
takes.”

Fain’s
upbringing
plays
into
his
strong
unionism
and
religious
beliefs,
which
he
has
growingly
talked
about
with
members
as
he
emphasizes
“faith”
in
the
UAW’s
cause.
Two
of
his
grandparents
were
UAW
GM
retirees,
and
one
grandfather
started
at
Chrysler
in
1937,
the
year
the
workers
joined
the
union. Fain,
who
joined
the
UAW
in
1994,
even
keeps
one
of
his
grandfather’s
pay
stubs
in
his
wallet
as
“a
reminder”
of
where
he
came
from. 

National
media
and
others
really
started
paying
attention
to
Fain
when
he
said
the
union
would
withhold
a
reelection
endorsement
of
President

Joe
Biden,
who
has

called
himself
the
“most
pro-union
president
in
history.”
Fain
and
Biden
have
spoken
and
met,
but
the
union
leader
has
not
shown
much
support
for
the
president.
In
response
to
comments
by
the
president
Friday,
Fain
said:
“Working
people
are
not
afraid.
You
know
who’s
afraid?
The
corporate
media
is
afraid.
The
White
House
is
afraid.
The
companies
are
afraid.”

While
many
past
union
leaders
have
talked
such
talk,
Fain
has
thus
far
delivered
on
his
promises
to
members
without
batting
an
eye
—
causing


General
Motors,


Ford
Motor
and


Stellantis
to
go
into
crisis
mode
this
week
as
the
UAW
follows
through
on
that
promise
to
members.

“We’ve
never
seen
anything
like
this;
it’s
frustrating,”
Ford
CEO
Jim
Farley

told
CNBC’s
Phil
LeBeau
Thursday
as
he
criticized
Fain
and
the
union
for
what
he
said
was
a
lack
of
communication
and
counteroffers.
“I
don’t
know
what
Shawn
Fain
is
doing,
but
he’s
not
negotiating
this
contract
with
us,
as
it
expires.”

In
a
statement
Friday,
Ford
said
that
the
UAW’s
partial
strike
at
its
Michigan
Assembly
Plant
has
forced
it
to
lay
off
about
600
workers.

“This
is
not
a
lockout,”
Ford
said.
“This
layoff
is
a
consequence
of
the
strike
at
Michigan
Assembly
Plant’s
final
assembly
and
paint
departments,
because
the
components
built
by
these
600
employees
use
materials
that
must
be
e-coated
for
protection.
E-coating
is
completed
in
the
paint
department,
which
is
on
strike.”

GM
CEO
Mary
Barra
echoed
Farley’s
feelings
Friday
morning
on

CNBC’s
“Squawk
Box.”

“I’m
extremely
frustrated
and
disappointed,”
she
said.
“We
don’t
need
to
be
on
strike
right
now.”

Both
CEOs
said
everything
they
could
to
indicate they
believe
Fain
may
not
be
bargaining
in
good
faith
without
using
those
exact
words,
which
could
justify
a
complaint
with
the
National
Labor
Relations
Board.

The
UAW
in
late
August
filed
unfair
labor
practice
charges against
GM
and
Stellantis with
the
NLRB,
alleging
they
did
not
bargain
with
the
union
in
good
faith
or
a
timely
manner.
It
did
not
file
a
complaint
against
Ford.
GM
and
Stellantis
have
denied
those
allegations.

Several
past
union
leaders
and
company
bargainers
who
spoke
to
CNBC
hailed
the
way
Fain
has
been
able
to
propel
the
UAW
into
the
national
spotlight,
including
pausing
bargaining
for
a
Friday
rally
and
march
with
Sen.
Bernie
Sanders,
the
progressive
lawmaker
from
Vermont.
Sanders,
whose
surprise
2016
Democratic
presidential
primary
win
in
Michigan
helped
cement
his
national
prominence,
has
lent
support
to
numerous
labor
movements
around
the
country
as
he
rails
against
the
billionaire
class.

“I
think
they’re
just
doing
an
outstanding
job,”
said respected former
UAW
President
Bob
King,
who
cited
growing
support
for
the
union
among
the
public
and
the
union’s
own
members. “Both
those
measurements
say
that
UAW
communications
has
been
outstanding.”

UAW
members
have
taken
notice
—
especially
after
many
of
them
disdained
union
leadership
during
and
after
a
yearslong
federal
corruption
investigation
that
landed

two
past
UAW
presidents
and
more
than
a
dozen
others
in
prison.

“For
all
the
years
that
I’ve
worked
here,
it’s
never
been
this
strong,”
said
Anthony
Dobbins,
a
27-year
autoworker,
early
Friday
morning
while
picketing
the
Ford
plant
in
Michigan.
“This
is
going
to
make
history
right
here
because
we
are
trying
to
get
what
we
deserve.”

Dobbins,
a
UAW
Local
600
union
representative,
balked
at
current
record
offers
by
the
automakers
that
have
included
roughly
20%
pay
increases,
thousands
of
dollars
in
bonuses,
retention
of
the
union’s
platinum
health
care
and
other
sweetened
benefits.

“That’s
not
working
for
us.
Give
us
what
we
asked
for,”
Dobbins
said.
“That’s
what
we
want.
We
have
to
work
seven
days,
overtime,
just
to
make
ends
meet.”

Key
demands
from
the
union
have
included
40%
hourly
pay
increases;
a
reduced,
32-hour,
workweek;
a
shift
back
to
traditional
pensions;
the
elimination
of
compensation
tiers;
and
a
restoration
of
cost-of-living
adjustments.
Other
items
on
the
table
include
enhanced
retiree
benefits
and
better
vacation
and
family
leave
benefits.

Automakers
have
argued
such
demands
would
cripple
the
companies.
Farley
even
said
the
company
would
have
“gone
bankrupt
by
now”
under
the
union’s
current
proposals
and
members
would
not
have
benefited
from
$75,000
in
average
profit-sharing
over
the
last
decade.

Ford
sources
said
the
automaker
would

have
lost
$14.4
billion
over
the
last
four
years
if
the
current
demands
had
been
in
effect,
instead
of
recording
nearly
$30
billion
in
profits.

Such
profits
are
exactly
what
Fain
has
said
UAW
members
deserve
to
share
in.
But
his
strategy
to
get
workers
a
larger
piece
of
the
pie
carries

great
risks.

“This
is
not
going
to
be
positive
from
an
industry
perspective
or
for
GM,”
Barra
said
Friday.

Many
outside
the
union
believe
if
Fain
pushes
too
hard,
it
could
lead
to
long-term
job
losses
for
the
union.
A
former
high-ranking
bargainer
for
one
of
the
automakers
told
CNBC
that
it’s
nearly
guaranteed
the
companies
cut
union
jobs
through
product
allocation,
plant
closures
or
other
means
to
offset
increased
labor
costs.

“They’re
going
to
have
to
pay
up.
The
question
is
how
much,”
said
the
longtime
bargainer,
who
agreed
to
speak
on
the
condition
of
anonymity.
“This
ends
up
with
fewer
jobs.
That’s
how
the
automakers
cut
costs.”

Fain
and
other
union
leaders
have
argued
that
meeting
the
companies
in
the
middle
has
led
to
dozens
of
plant
closures,
fewer
union
members
and
a
growing
divide
between
blue-collar
workers
and
the
wealthy.

So
why
not
fight?

“This
is
about
us
doing
what
we
got
to
do
to
take
care
of
the
working
class,”
Fain
said
Friday.
“This
isn’t
just
about
the
UAW.
This
is
about
working
people
everywhere
in
this
country.
No
matter
what
you
do
for
a
living,
you
deserve
your
fair
share
of
equity.”