![]() It'll ultimately be up to the bargaining committee members what they will be willing to bring to the membership, though. Wage increases, COLA and pensions are among the UAW's priorities during negotiations, but Fain emphasized job security, allocation and the elimination of different compensation levels based on years of experience and hire date as particularly key issues for members. Stellantis' profit-sharing checks were the highest at $14,760, followed by GM workers receiving $12,750 and Ford's, $9,176. In 2022, GM, Stellantis and Ford reported adjusted operating income in North America, respectively, of $13 billion, $15.2 billion and $9.2 billion. What's going on now is that the few are benefitting and taking everything, and then everybody else is left with with little and fighting over scraps. They went through bankruptcy because of a bad economy. Our compensation wasn't the reason they went through bankruptcy. "Workers were not the reason these companies went through bankruptcy. They've had 14 years."įain pushed back against the idea that workers' compensation contributed to the bankruptcies. I view it as they didn't take care of people in the last 10 years when they were highly profitable, so I don't think we're asking for a lot. "I don't view it as getting all this stuff at once. Watch Video: Shawn Fain visits with auto plant workers "They did it all at once right there, and they used the government to do it. "The companies took 20 to 25 years of things they tried to take away from us," he said. Gathering during shift changes outside one of the entrance gates at SHAP, Fain promised to fight to earn workers what he says they are owed after previous contracts failed to return workers to the previous benefits they had received prior to the Great Recession and bankruptcies at GM and the former Chrysler LLC.įain also emphasized the precedent these negotiations would have for electric-vehicle autoworkers, particularly at the joint-venture battery manufacturing plants being built by the Detroit automakers and their partners. Instead, Fain, Mock, the three vice presidents and other executive board members and international staff met with members outside three Detroit-area plants Wednesday in preparation for the historic talks beginning. They'll do so without the traditional ceremonial handshakes. UAW bargaining committees will approach their counterparts at the automakers starting Thursday, first at Stellantis, followed by Ford Motor Co. "It's $200 in gas to drive here every week. Merrow wishes she had a pension like her seniority colleagues. ![]() She works full-time at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, where she and other workers build the Ram 1500 pickup trucks. "I'm not going to be in a position to work when I retire," said Merrow, 39, a UAW member for 6 1/2 years. "I feel like we should be able to afford the cars that we make," added Sherray Watts, 32, of Detroit, another four-year GM employee on the automaker's in-progression wage schedule, which puts employees at top pay levels after eight years.įor Stellantis worker Corrie Merrow of Flushing, financial security after retirement is a big concern. ![]() "It shouldn't take two or three paychecks to pay my rent," said Chris Holloway, 31, of Warren, a UAW member of Local 22 and a four-year GM employee at Factory Zero. Members echoed what leaders have spoken about as contract priorities, especially the need for higher pay amid inflationary pressures. At each stop, they talked with members and pledged to fight for them in this set of negotiations. In the afternoon, the leaders went to General Motors Co.'s Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center and Ford Motor Co.'s Michigan Assembly plant in Wayne. Starting bright and early Wednesday morning, wearing bright red polo shirts, some of the UAW's top leaders, including President Shawn Fain and Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock, shook hands with workers as they were leaving their shifts at Stellantis NV's Sterling Heights Assembly Plant. Sterling Heights - As historic contract negotiations gear up to begin this week with Detroit's three automakers, United Auto Workers members on Wednesday expressed frustrations to union leaders about treatment inside workplaces and the need for cost-of-living allowances, higher wages and a secure retirement.
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