United Auto Workers On Strike

[B-Man]

 

 

How the game is played: Ford pauses MI EV battery plant construction, UAW in freak-out mode

By BEEGE WELBORN

 

While a shamefully pandering POTATUS shambled alongside smirking Shawn Fain, United Auto Worker president, at a picket line in Michigan this morning, one of the D-3 protagonists in this workers’ melodrama was busy assessing ongoing business options and came to the conclusion one of them needed some reassessing.

 

Ford has been the focus of some slightly more positive press from the UAW in recent negotiations, after coming back to the table with what Fain called “good progress” late last week.

 

Quote

 

Some 5,500 United Auto Workers members at 38 sites on Friday joined what’s being called a Stand Up Strike, walking off the job at all parts distribution centers across the nation at General Motors and Stellantis.

The walkout came after UAW President Shawn Fain announced in the morning that the sites would be targeted as an expansion in the union’s one-week-old action against Detroit Three automakers.

…In his morning announcement, Fain said the union had made good progress with Ford Motor Co. this week, but GM and Stellantis “will need some pushing.”

 

 

In spite of what passes for warm fuzzies in union contract negotiations, Ford upped the ante this morning. In a surprise move, the corporation announced it was “temporarily” halting construction on the new bazillion dollar EV battery plant it’s building in Michigan with – SURPRISE! – a Chinese company

 

 

https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2023/09/26/how-the-game-is-played-ford-pauses-mi-ev-battery-plant-construction-uaw-in-freak-out-mode-n580589

 

 

 

.

[John from Riverside]

Go to see old and decrepit Joe out there on the picket line

 

 

Edited September 27, 2023 by John from Riverside

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

2 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

Go to see old and decrepit Joe out there on the picket line

 

 

“No, Mr. President, we’re the UAW, and Jimmy Hoffa has been dead since 1975.”

[BillStime]

Meanwhile - who is Trump meeting with?

 

 

[Tommy Callahan]

1 minute ago, BillStime said:

Meanwhile - who is Trump meeting with?

 

 

LMAO at this gem

 

"Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers," Fain wrote in a statement.

 

Biden is the face of the billionaire class and the economy that only works for that class.

 

 

[John from Riverside]

1 minute ago, Chris farley said:

LMAO at this gem

 

"Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers," Fain wrote in a statement.

 

Biden is the face of the billionaire class and the economy that only works for that class.

 

 

Biden is the face of the billionaire class?

 

He is nowhere near worth that much

[BillStime]

6 minutes ago, Chris farley said:

Biden is the face of the billionaire class

 

7 minutes ago, Chris farley said:

the economy that only works for that class.

 

 

jfc - these people are pathetic 

[wnyguy]

10 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

Biden is the face of the billionaire class?

 

He is nowhere near worth that much

I guess that would depend on the amount of kickback he is getting from the billions given to Ukraine, doesn't it?

Edited September 27, 2023 by wnyguy

[John from Riverside]

2 minutes ago, wnyguy said:

I guess that would depend on the amount of kickback he is getting from the billions given to Ukraine, doesn't it?

If it were true

[wnyguy]

Just now, John from Riverside said:

If it were true

Well somebody is sure getting rich from this fiasco.

[Tommy Callahan]

Just now, John from Riverside said:

Biden is the face of the billionaire class?

 

He is nowhere near worth that much

The ones that fund the PACS, Charities that paid for that 5-billion-dollar election, ARE from that class.  

 

 

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

32 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

Biden is the face of the billionaire class?

 

He is nowhere near worth that much

Come on John, he’s an incredibly wealthy guy who’s been a government lifer, with incredible wealth visited upon his immediate family members.   He’s a guy who if he wasn’t in office is exactly the sort of fat cat using the tax code to duck his fair share.   
 

Remember John the hated folks these days are millionaires and billionaires. 

[BillStime]

Conald and Caputo are chuckling 
 

 

[ChiGoose]

2 minutes ago, BillStime said:

Conald and Caputo are chuckling 
 

 

Trump is stumping with non-union workers and pretending to care about the unions. 
 

The first and foremost goal of the GOP is to transfer wealth from working Americans to the donor class, so actually supporting people trying to fight for decent wages is an anathema. 

[Tommy Callahan]

TDS on display on a thread about a union strike.

 

 

7 hours ago, ChiGoose said:

Trump is stumping with non-union workers and pretending to care about the unions. 
 

The first and foremost goal of the GOP is to transfer wealth from working Americans to the donor class, so actually supporting people trying to fight for decent wages is an anathema. 

So the GOP has been in control since the pandemic.  cause that's when the gap started to pick up steam and its only gotten larger since.

 

 

 

 

[Tommy Callahan]

On 9/26/2023 at 10:03 PM, B-Man said:

 

 

How the game is played: Ford pauses MI EV battery plant construction, UAW in freak-out mode

By BEEGE WELBORN

 

While a shamefully pandering POTATUS shambled alongside smirking Shawn Fain, United Auto Worker president, at a picket line in Michigan this morning, one of the D-3 protagonists in this workers’ melodrama was busy assessing ongoing business options and came to the conclusion one of them needed some reassessing.

 

Ford has been the focus of some slightly more positive press from the UAW in recent negotiations, after coming back to the table with what Fain called “good progress” late last week.

 

 

In spite of what passes for warm fuzzies in union contract negotiations, Ford upped the ante this morning. In a surprise move, the corporation announced it was “temporarily” halting construction on the new bazillion dollar EV battery plant it’s building in Michigan with – SURPRISE! – a Chinese company

 

 

https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2023/09/26/how-the-game-is-played-ford-pauses-mi-ev-battery-plant-construction-uaw-in-freak-out-mode-n580589

 

 

 

.

I was just reading in the ways and means committee minutes about an investigation into Ford/China battery facility.

 

 

https://waysandmeans.house.gov/smith-gallagher-rodgers-seek-compliance-after-ford-refuses-to-cooperate-with-investigations-into-ccp-aligned-ev-battery-partnership/

 

"Smith, Gallagher, Rodgers Seek Compliance After Ford Refuses to Cooperate with Investigations into CCP-Aligned EV Battery Partnership"

 

How much of Blackrock is owned by china?

Vanguard?

 

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/08/investing/blackrock-china-fund-intl-hnk/index.html#:~:text=BlackRock’s new investment fund in China — the,week and has attracted more than 111%2C000 investors.

 

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/blackrock-wins-chinese-regulatory-approval-onshore-mutual-fund-business-2021-06-11/#:~:text=BlackRock%2C the world's biggest asset manager%2C on Friday,April 1%2C 2020%2C under a Sino-U.S. trade deal.

 

https://fortune.com/2021/09/09/blackrock-china-mutual-fund-investment-soros-mistake/

 

https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2021/11/29/vanguard-plans-actively-managed-china-equity-fund/

 

[All_Pro_Bills]

7 hours ago, ChiGoose said:

Trump is stumping with non-union workers and pretending to care about the unions. 
 

The first and foremost goal of the GOP is to transfer wealth from working Americans to the donor class, so actually supporting people trying to fight for decent wages is an anathema. 

Once again reality, when examined objectively, reveals the Biden administration is no friend of the UAW and "working Americans".  This administration is working overtime to force consumers into EV's through interference in the market.  Take the Inflation Reduction Act and mandates for EV''s.  Add in generous tax credits that go to mostly high income people courtesy of the working class and intentionally making gasoline more expense to increase the total cost of ownership closer to way more expensive EV's.  Biden, friend of the working American, intentionally increasing their cost of living.

 

Selling and building EVs' requires a lot less labor to produce and guess what happens to the excess workforce when they're no longer needed?  Bye, bye another 25 plus percent of UAW members.  

[Doc]

2 hours ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

Once again reality, when examined objectively, reveals the Biden administration is no friend of the UAW and "working Americans".  This administration is working overtime to force consumers into EV's through interference in the market.  Take the Inflation Reduction Act and mandates for EV''s.  Add in generous tax credits that go to mostly high income people courtesy of the working class and intentionally making gasoline more expense to increase the total cost of ownership closer to way more expensive EV's.  Biden, friend of the working American, intentionally increasing their cost of living.

 

Selling and building EVs' requires a lot less labor to produce and guess what happens to the excess workforce when they're no longer needed?  Bye, bye another 25 plus percent of UAW members.  

 

People rarely think of the future consequences of their actions.  It's mostly immediate gratification.

[Andy1]

Totally predictable. He picked the audience from “central casting” to make sure they looked good.

[All_Pro_Bills]

10 hours ago, Andy1 said:

Totally predictable. He picked the audience from “central casting” to make sure they looked good.

Should the reality that political events and speeches are scripted and choreographed be of any surprise?  It's all a game of slight of hand and illusion.  Look at the President, he's incapable of answering a simple question unless the question was previously submitted and approved along with having an answer on a queue card, which he reads verbatim, that was crafted by a member of his staff.  When you hear "I was told to call on you first" as the initial statement of a Q&A session its a good clue spontaneity is not a factor.

[Tiberius]

2 hours ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

Should the reality that political events and speeches are scripted and choreographed be of any surprise?  It's all a game of slight of hand and illusion.  Look at the President, he's incapable of answering a simple question unless the question was previously submitted and approved along with having an answer on a queue card, which he reads verbatim, that was crafted by a member of his staff.  When you hear "I was told to call on you first" as the initial statement of a Q&A session its a good clue spontaneity is not a factor.

Right, and pointing it out makes you guys scream, "Lying media!!" 

 

Still, Trump spoke at a non-union company, like he supported organized labor. I'm glad he was exposed for his cynicism 

 

Trump is such a POS 

[Joe Ferguson forever]

meanwhile in fantasy land....the female propagandist standing in front of a picture of a huge maga filled auditorium when there were 500 people at the event.  Reminiscent of the screens in the broadcast booth in the bunker at the Greenbrier of different seasons in Washington for backdrops of announcements in the event of a nuclear war.  Fascinating place.  The guys running it had fake identities as TV repairman in tiny white sulphur springs WV

 

https://www.oann.com/video/oan-contribution/harrington-pres-trump-is-fighting-for-the-forgotten-man/

 

well worth $47

https://www.greenbrier.com/Activities-Events/Bunker-Tours-0130-(4).aspx

Edited September 29, 2023 by Joe Ferguson forever

[Tommy Callahan]

46 minutes ago, Joe Ferguson forever said:

meanwhile in fantasy land....the female propagandist standing in front of a picture of a huge maga filled auditorium when there were 500 people at the event.  Reminiscent of the screens in the broadcast booth in the bunker at the Greenbrier of different seasons in Washington for backdrops of announcements in the event of a nuclear war.  Fascinating place.  The guys running it had fake identities as TV repairman in tiny white sulphur springs WV

 

https://www.oann.com/video/oan-contribution/harrington-pres-trump-is-fighting-for-the-forgotten-man/

 

well worth $47

https://www.greenbrier.com/Activities-Events/Bunker-Tours-0130-(4).aspx

Its like they ripped that marketing narrative right from the green agenda.

 

 

[Joe Ferguson forever]

4 minutes ago, Chris farley said:

Its like they ripped that marketing narrative right from the green agenda.

 

 

not at all.  But I'm glad you read it.  Did you know about the bunker?  Do you think there's one in existence now?  Would trump disclose the location when he goes scorched earth?  That would be patriotic, "amiright"?

Edited September 29, 2023 by Joe Ferguson forever

[Tommy Callahan]

LMAO

 

IE, they are getting cash from suckers using a false fear narrative.

 

Keep up.

 

 

[Doc]

21 hours ago, Andy1 said:

Totally predictable. He picked the audience from “central casting” to make sure they looked good.

 

Why should only Dems be able to do it?

[Joe Ferguson forever]

6 hours ago, Tommy Callahan said:

LMAO

 

IE, they are getting cash from suckers using a false fear narrative.

 

Keep up.

 

 

umm, he goes scorched earth when he loses in court and the election...If he wins he just becomes a dictator.  He'll want that bunker...He'll have advance notice.  A smaller bunker will undoubtedly suffice however.  He doesn't need no stinking congress.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Joe Ferguson forever

[BillStime]

👆

 😂

👇
 

On 9/26/2023 at 5:23 PM, B-Man said:

stunt

noun 

 

: an unusual or difficult feat.

especially : one performed or undertaken chiefly to gain attention or publicity

 

Don’t you love when Conald upstages YOU, Bonnie?

 

 

[B-Man]

 

 

Remember this ?

 

 

 

Ford says latest offer to UAW is the limit

JOHN SEXTON 

 

There was an escalation this week in the battle between the UAW and Ford. It started Wednesday when the UAW announced it was extending the strike to include a Ford truck building plant in Kentucky. Previously, the UAW had only expanded the strike during Friday announcements around noon. So what happened this week? 

 

https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2023/10/13/ford-says-latest-offer-to-uaw-is-the-limit-n584670

 

.

[Thurmal34]

On 9/23/2023 at 12:03 PM, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

There is still a labor component, and robots can operate anywhere. So wages still drive decision making. I’ve been through plenty of outsourcing and don’t automate vs automation vs automate AND outsource analyses. 

Yes, a minor one. But it’s def not a foreigner issue. Every time you check out at an automatic grocery store teller, remember that was a human that used to do that job. 

[B-Man]

 

 

 

[JDHillFan]

I was hopeful that President Brandon’s historic picket line visit was going to be the catalyst for a settlement. Oh well.

 

[Tommy Callahan]

None of the companies are budging an inch on the pay grade levels.

 

it's insane that a factory worker would make 17 an hour.

 

can make more than that doing fast food.

 

 

[Doc]

8 minutes ago, Tommy Callahan said:

None of the companies are budging an inch on the pay grade levels.

 

it's insane that a factory worker would make 17 an hour.

 

can make more than that doing fast food.

 

Probably entry-level and the most menial of tasks.

[Tommy Callahan]

8 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

Probably entry-level and the most menial of tasks.

I agree, but ever been in a factory?  vehicles are 50K plus now.

 

But the schedules ensure that the max pay is also way lower than the people doing the same job.

 

ITs a dirty game in contracts.  

 

"Hire a bunch of new employees before contract.  Then make sure to offer a signing bonus and a raise for current workers, but a kicker that a new lower pay schedule for anyone hired after ratification."

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Doc]

5 minutes ago, Tommy Callahan said:

I agree, but ever been in a factory?  vehicles are 50K plus now.

 

But the schedules ensure that the max pay is also way lower than the people doing the same job.

 

ITs a dirty game in contracts.  

 

"Hire a bunch of new employees before contract.  Then make sure to offer a signing bonus and a raise for current workers, but a kicker that a new lower pay schedule for anyone hired after ratification."

 

I actually worked in a factory packing foam plates during the summers before and right after freshman year of college.  It was miserable because the machines gave off a ton of heat, there was no AC and the plates just kept on coming and coming and coming. 

[Tommy Callahan]

11 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

I actually worked in a factory packing foam plates during the summers before and right after freshman year of college.  It was miserable because the machines gave off a ton of heat, there was no AC and the plates just kept on coming and coming and coming. 

I agree, its miserable condition to work in.  

 

shoot, at that level the state/taxes is also providing services.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Tommy Callahan

[ChiGoose]

Ford, UAW reach tentative deal to end strike including record pay raise

 

Oct 25 (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers (UAW) union reached a tentative labor deal on Wednesday with Ford Motor (F.N), the first of Detroit's Big Three car manufacturers to negotiate a settlement to strikes joined by 45,000 workers since mid-September.

 

The proposed accord, which UAW's leadership must still approve, provides a 25% wage hike over the 4-1/2-year contract, starting with an initial increase of 11%.

 

The Ford deal, which could help create a template for settlements of parallel UAW strikes against General Motors (GM.N) and Chrysler parent Stellantis (STLAM.MI), would amount to total pay hikes of more than 33% when compounding and cost-of-living mechanisms are factored in, the UAW said.

"We told Ford to pony up and they did," Fain said in a video post on Facebook, adding that the strike at Ford "has delivered".

 

In addition to the general wage hike, Fain said the lowest-paid temporary workers would see raises of more than 150% over the contract term and employees would reach top pay after three years. The union also won the right to strike over future plant closures, he said.

 

The UAW also succeeded in eliminating lower-pay tiers for workers in certain parts operations at Ford - an issue Fain highlighted from the start of the bargaining process, wearing T-shirts with the slogan "End Tiers."

 

The Ford contract would reverse concessions the union agreed to in a series of contracts since 2007, when GM and the former Chrysler were skidding toward bankruptcy, and Ford was mortgaging assets to stay afloat.

 

"We know it breaks records," Fain said in a video address Wednesday night. "We know it will change lives. But what happens next is up to you all."

 

The Detroit automakers have argued that the UAW's demands will significantly raise costs and hobble their electric vehicle ambitions, putting them at a disadvantage when compared to EV leader Tesla (TSLA.O) and foreign brands such as Toyota Motor (7203.T), which are non-unionized.

 

The UAW was preparing to strike at a key Ford facility in Dearborn this week if it had not reached agreement after striking at additional GM and Stellantis facilities this week.

 

But in an unexpected move that adds pressure on GM and Stellantis, the UAW told Ford workers now on strike to return to their jobs during the ratification process. That means production of Ford Super Duty pickups, Ford Bronco and Explorer SUVs and Ranger trucks could restart this week.

 

Ford, confirmed the news. "We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with the UAW covering our U.S. operations," Ford CEO and President Jim Farley said in a statement. Ford shares rose 2% in after-hours trade.

 

In statements, GM and Stellantis said Wednesday they are working to secure agreements as soon as possible.

 

"This lays the groundwork for the next two contracts and they should fall in line fairly quickly because all three were within a narrow gap of each other," Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions.

 

The UAW ratcheted up pressure on the automakers by striking at each company's most profitable plant - GM's Arlington, Texas assembly plant, Ford's Kentucky heavy-duty pickup factory and Stellantis' Ram pickup plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

 

The total economic loss from the auto workers' strike has reached $9.3 billon, the Anderson Economic Group said earlier this week.

 

"I think this will be a positive for the stocks," said portfolio manager Tim Piechowski at ACR Alpine Capital Research, which has $250 million in investment in GM. Detroit Three shares currently reflect a scenario worse than the terms of the tentative agreement, he said.

 

BARGAINING TABLE

The UAW's campaign for a record contract converged with union efforts in Hollywood and at delivery giant UPS to win big pay increases. It also became the focus of attention by U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican rivals who see Michigan and other auto states as pivotal to their 2024 campaign strategies.

Biden joined Fain on a picket line last month, and praised the tentative agreement in a statement Wednesday night as a "testament to the power of employers and employees coming together to work out their differences at the bargaining table."

 

Absent from Fain and Browning's summary of the contract terms Wednesday was mention of future pay and unionization at new joint-venture electric vehicle battery factories the Detroit Three are building with Asian partners.

 

Because they are owned by separate corporate entities, the automakers did not have to include those factories in this round of bargaining. Fain had pushed for assurances that battery plant wages would be comparable to wages at assembly plants, and expressed concern that UAW jobs at Detroit Three combustion powertrain plants would be lost over time to non-union battery operations.

 

Nonetheless, Harley Shaiken, labor professor at the University of California, Berkeley, saw the deal as one with far-reaching implications. "This is a set of negotiations, historically, where gains made in Detroit would be viewed and adapted by many other industries across the economy," he said.

Former GM shareholder Jeffrey Scharf of Act Two Investors said the bottom line for union chief Fain depended on his ability to expand the union.

 

"If they can use this as a lever to organize Tesla and companies like that, he's brilliant. If they fail to organize the other companies and the differential causes jobs to go out of Detroit and to the other companies, then he's a failure," Scharf said.

[B-Man]

 

[Tiberius]

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/30/gm-uaw-tentative-agreement-labor-strike.html

 

Looks like UAW and GM have reached a deal