Samuel Messidor
With the initiation of the strike at Ford, GM, and Stellantis, 17,000 workers out of 146,000 total walked off the job and picketed the three automakers. As of September 29, two more waves of workers have joined the strike, bringing the total of striking workers to around 25,000. UAW President Fain has stated that more workers will be called to the “stand-up strike” on an ongoing basis if “serious progress” is not made in negotiations. It is unclear what qualifies as “serious progress.”
The UAW rank-and-file is pushing back against the concessions imposed on them during the 2008-2009 economic crisis, including a 2-tier system, lowering real wages, and temp work. Temp workers start out at $16 an hour, and second tier workers cap at around $20 in the current, concessionary contract.
The UAW is calling the partial strike a “stand-up strike,” referencing the 1936 Communist-organized sit-down strike at a GM plant in Flint, MI. The disciplined and militant occupation of the Flint auto plant forced company recognition of the UAW.
Compared to the militancy of the Flint sit-down strike, Fain’s strike is a “stand-down strike” where 90% of the workers are ordered to continue working without a contract by the union bureaucracy. This has exposed workers to aggressive disciplinary actions from management, as reported by workers in a Stellantis plant. The UAW has even told workers not to take wildcat action or slow down their work, meaning the union will not defend members going against the “stand-down” orders.
Workers are following Fain’s suggestion to refuse voluntary overtime. Now that the contract has expired, collectively refusing extra work is no longer banned. Nevertheless, workers have reported retaliation for organizing refusal of voluntary overtime across all 3 of the corporations.
The Big Three have bragged that with a smaller work stoppage they can sell off excess product. In the meantime, they have begun temporarily laying off workers—numbering in the thousands already—at affected plants, saying they will not pay unemployment benefits because the layoffs are due to the strike. The UAW has stated it will pay wages to the laid off workers, ostensibly from the strike fund.
Biden is sending the interim labor secretary and a White House advisor to Detroit to join the negotiations, saying that nobody wants a strike. Given that 97% of UAW members voted to authorize work stoppages, it is apparent that Biden is really speaking only for himself and the capitalists he represents, hoping to present the illusion of a strong economy to shore up his re-election chances.
On September 26, Biden visited the picket line at a GM parts distribution warehouse in Michigan—the first visit of a President to a strike. Standing alongside Fain, Biden—who outlawed the strike of the rail workers in 2022—said the autoworkers deserve their demanded 40% raise and told them to keep up the fight.
On the same day, a car struck five picketers in a hit-and-run while leaving the Flint Processing Center, a GM warehouse under picket as part of the strike. Only minor injuries were reported.
Meanwhile in Canada, Unifor—the union representing the Big Three workers north of the border— extended the expired contracts, blocking strike action that was overwhelmingly approved by membership by citing that flagship negotiations with Ford were going well. They have now reached a deal with Ford, with a 54% approval vote. Workers voting against it cited inadequate pension gains.
image: UAW picket at Wentzville GM facility, UAW website
