United Auto Workers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Shawn Fain |
| Founded | 1935 |
| Headquarters | Detroit, Michigan, United States |
| Website | |
| https://www.UAW.org | |
The United Auto Workers (UAW) is a trade union in the United States and Canada. Socialist Will Lehman is currently running for president of the union.[1]
History
Great Depression
The UAW won its first contract with GM in a 1937–38 sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan.[2]
38th Convention
At the UAW 38th Constitutional Convention in July 2022, delegates voted to revoke a pay change from earlier in the convention that increased strike pay from $400 to $500 per week. The vote was held hours after the convention was scheduled to end and many delegates had already left the convention.[1]
2023 strike
In July 2023, UAW workers began negotiations with Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (the Big 3). The lead negotiator for Stellantis spent much of his time before the September 15 strike deadline posting vacation photos from his second mansion in Acapulco, Mexico.
The UAW began its strike with at three factories in Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio that produce trucks and SUVs for all three companies. The union targeted these strategic facilities because a strike of all workers would quickly deplete the union's strike pay. In its second week, the strike spread 38 parts distribution centers.
After a week of the strike, Ford surrendered and agreed reinstate cost-of-living adjustments for wages. Ford had previously sworn never to reinstate it after abolishing it in the Great Recession. After three weeks, GM agreed to bring three non-unionized facilities under the contract. The Big 3 accepted a new contract that would raise starting wages by 70% and top wages by 33%. They will shorten the time for new employees to earn top wages from eight to three years. The new contract will expire on April 30, 2028.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shannon Jones (2022-07-29). "On last day of convention, UAW delegates rescind strike pay increase" World Socialist Web Site. Archived from the original on 2022-07-29. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Neal Sweeney (2023-11-05). "How UAW auto workers took on the Big 3 and won" Liberation News. Retrieved 2023-11-11.