Breaking with the long-standing tradition of the “handshake ceremony” with the auto executives of the Big Three auto makers to open contract talks, United Auto Staff president Shawn Fain as an alternative speaks with and does “members’ handshakes” with Stellantis employees on the Stellantis Sterling Heights Assembly Plant on July 12, 2023 in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The UAW opens auto contract negotiations with Stellantis today, Ford on July 14, and General Motors on July 18. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images News | Getty Images
United Auto Staff President Shawn Fain on Monday said the White House may have no role in brokering an agreement to finish the autoworkers’ strike because the walkout enters its fourth day with no resolution in sight.
“No, by no means,” Fain said when asked on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” whether the White House could help the union and General Motors, Ford and Stellantis reach a deal.
“This battle shouldn’t be in regards to the president,” Fain said. “It isn’t in regards to the former president or some other person prior to that. This battle is in regards to the employees standing up for economic and social justice and getting their fair proportion because they’re fed up with going backwards.”
Fain’s comments come after President Joe Biden said on Friday that he would send acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and White House senior advisor Gene Sperling to Detroit to assist mediate the negotiations.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNBC in an interview Monday that the White House wants a “win-win” deal. “The 2 sides have to narrow their disagreements and to work for a contract that is good for the employees and for the industry as well,” Yellen said.
The strike has entered its fourth day with no resolution in sight. Nearly 13,000 UAW members are on strike at three key plants in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio.
Biden, who’s up for reelection next 12 months, often touts his blue-collar roots and has sought to closely associate himself with the labor movement, however the strikes will test those credentials if the dispute is left unresolved and triggers broader economic disruption. Former President Donald Trump can be courting support from UAW members, while attacking the union’s leaders, as he pursues one other term within the White House.
Biden largely sided with the striking employees in his temporary address Friday, calling on the automakers to share the record profits they’ve made lately.
“Those record profits haven’t been shared fairly, in my opinion, with the employees,” the president said.
The autoworkers are demanding a 40% hourly wage increase, a 32-hour workweek, elimination of compensation tiers, a return to traditional pensions, the restoration of cost-of-living adjustments in addition to higher vacation and family leave advantages amongst other items.
Where do things stand?
Fain on Monday said the union and the automakers remain “far apart” on several issues. He specifically called out compensation tiers, by which employees are paid in another way for a similar job.
“We have now been very clear from the onset that we would like to finish tiers,” Fain told MSNBC. “You’ve got employees on the road doing the identical job for severely different rates of pay and there is no excuse for that.”
The UAW president said the union’s members are prepared to escalate: “If the businesses don’t reply to the members’ demands then we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do.”
The automakers have said the union’s demands would cripple the businesses and put them at an obstacle compared non-unionized automotive manufacturers. Ford CEO Jim Farley said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday that the automaker would have gone bankrupt under the UAW’s current demands.
Ford on Friday temporarily laid off 600 employees who are usually not striking at its assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan. GM has said its assembly plant in Fairfax, Missouri should shut down as soon as this week, impacting 2,000 employees.
Trump on Friday accused the UAW leadership of failing its members and claimed Biden administration’s efforts to transition to electric cars would lead to manufacturing jobs shifting to China.
“The autoworkers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should endorse Trump,” Trump, who’s the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, told NBC News in an interview.
