The game has changed. On Friday the 13th, wearing the red sweatshirt of an Italian labor union United Autoworkers president Shawn Fain announced he’s shaking up the union’s standup strike strategy by no longer waiting until Fridays to reveal the next strike targets in the union’s battle with the Detroit Three automakers for new contracts.
As the walkouts that began September 15th entered their fifth week Fain said of announcing new targets on his regular Friday live webcast, he’s tossing out that strategy to further disrupt actions by General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis who he said, were waiting until Fridays to jump in with new offers.
“We’re not waiting until Fridays anymore. We’re not sticking to one pattern or one system of giving these companies an extra hour or an extra day. They know what needs to happen and they know how to get it done,” said Fain. “Moving forward we will be calling out plants when we need to where we need to with little notice.”
Fain also called for the the general public to visit or join picket lines on Saturday to offer support and even supplies or music.
He saved his strongest invective for Ford a day after he called a surprise walkout at its Kentucky Truck Plant. The move came when an expected negotiation session devolved into Ford telling the UAW it had no new offer. At that point, Fain said “you just cost yourselves Kentucky Truck Plant.”
Kentucky Truck Plant is the largest truck plant in the world and produces the cash cows of Ford’s lineup—the Ford F-Series Super Duty, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.
Thursday afternoon Ford executives responded to the walkout at the automaker’s most profitable plant by calling out the thousands of people affected, both inside and outside the company and to further sweeten its offer would endanger Ford’s ability to grow.
Indeed, Ford Blue president Kumar Galhotra said, on the economics, the company has nothing left to offer, flatly stating in answer to a reporter’s question, “We have reached our limit. We’ve actually stretched ourselves to this point.”
In his opening statement, Galhotra said the company’s offer included “unprecedented improvements in wages. This offer would put employees among the top 25% of all U.S. jobs, hourly and salaried provides great benefits. We provided product commitments wherever you are W factory and writing job security, whether it will change the lives or employees for the better so all things considered. It’s an incredibly positive offer. As a company if we go further, we risk the ability to invest in the business and profitably grow.”
But Fain was having none of it saying the company can well afford to improve its offer because, “Our labor at Kentucky truck generates more revenue each minute that thousands of our members make in a year.”
While relations between the UAW and Ford seem to have hit rock bottom there’s no evidence the union is any closer to deals with GM and Stellantis although Fain said talks were continuing.
Everything about these negotiations has been different from any previous cycle and it keeps changing as Fain looks to win a new deal with new tactics by keeping the automaker’s guessing.
“They’re now on notice that we are entering a new phase in this fight.”
Read the full article here
