Union Bargaining Begins in Detroit

by Matt Posky

Published: July 12th, 2023

The United Auto Workers (UAW) is commencing contract negotiations with General Motors, Stellantis, and the Ford Motor Company this week. Members of the union’s executive board, along with UAW President Shawn Fain, appeared outside Stellantis' Sterling Heights Assembly Plant early Wednesday morning to draw attention to the talks.

The plan is to see each manufacturer as a preamble to the formal negotiations, which technically begin on Friday. But the union is also desperate to show itself in a better light after expansive corruption scandals implicated some of its now-ousted top brass. For most people living in North America, wages haven’t kept pace with the cost of living and inflationary pressures are exacerbating the issue. If there was ever a time to get the American public back on the side of unions, it’s now.

Wednesday’s press event was a little unusual for the UAW. Normally, contract negotiations are launched with little fanfare. But Fain and friends have said they want to do things differently since assuming control. They don’t even plan on choosing a singular manufacturer on which to focus, despite this being the norm for years. Instead, the union plans on dealing with all three companies simultaneously.

"The strike target is the Big 3," Fain said on Wednesday. "If the Big 3's not going to come to the pump for workers, there's going to be issues."

He’s been promising to stay in close contact with union members and appears willing to play hardball if manufacturers aren’t willing to compromise. While the union has shown itself as willing to strike in recent years, high-profile bribery scandals have undermined its credibility as an organization.

Though it’s not as though the UAW hasn’t enjoyed any wins. The union has managed to negotiate wage increases and limits to the number of temporary employees an automaker can employ. But concessions have also been made in recent years and it could be argued that the overall trajectory for factory workers has been pretty bleak since the early 2000s — if not earlier.

"Since the Great Recession, we haven't gained, really, anything," Fain explained to the media. "And the companies have made a quarter of a trillion dollars in profits in the last decade."

Automotive News reported that the union head appeared on Facebook Live Tuesday evening to request members fill out support cards. The cards include contact information so the union can keep workers informed on bargaining updates and how they can help. Fain has said he wanted to keep members better appraised than his predecessors had and seems more willing to leverage them into pushing back against the industry.

"We've got to stop this can't-do mentality," he said. "The question I need you to think about is, 'How far are you willing to go to win the contract you deserve?'”

Getting more could be a tall order, however. Offshoring jobs has proven lucrative for domestic manufacturers. Automotive News even released a report suggesting that Ford boasting more U.S. workers than GM or Stellantis places it at a $1 billion annual cost disadvantage.

From AN:

Ford employs roughly 57,000 union workers in the U.S., about 11,000 more than GM and 16,500 more than Stellantis. It has created or retained 14,000 UAW jobs — 5,600 more than it had committed to — since signing its current contract with the union in 2019.

The automaker also has invested $1.4 billion more than what's outlined in the current four-year pact and converted roughly 14,100 temporary workers to permanent status since 2019.

The contract calls for temporary workers to represent no more than 8 percent of Ford's hourly work force; they are currently only 3 percent. Ford is believed to have a significantly lower percentage of temporary workers than GM or Stellantis.

Ford enters its negotiations with the UAW, which formally begin Friday, looking to build on those job and investment commitments. But it's also seeking ways to manage costs and maintain flexibility in its manufacturing footprint as it transitions to electric vehicles.

Compared to foreign automakers that have nonunion workers, Ford has a roughly $9-an-hour labor cost gap. All in, the company said it spends an average of $112,000 on wages and benefits per hourly worker.

Meanwhile, the UAW is expected to push for wage increases and additional benefits for its members. Despite Ford’s bottom line not being quite as robust of late, Shawn Fain has argued that all three Detroit automakers have enjoyed record profits in recent years and should be able to meet the union’s demands while still turning a profit.

He has likewise expressed his intention to reinstate cost-of-living adjustments that were dropped during the 2008 recession and to end a tiered wage system that takes workers years to reach top pay of about $32 an hour.

[Image: UAW]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#NewsBlog #UnionNews #Uaw #Unions #CollectiveBargaining #ContractNegotiations #IndustryNews #AutomotiveIndustry

Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

More by Matt Posky

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 37 comments

JamesGarfield on Jul 25, 2023

There's a guy here in TX named Randy Adams. He has a car dealership here, and puts on a somewhat interesting radio show on local talk radio.

Last night, this guy said he strongly expects there's gonna be a huge autoworkers strike in September, which will choke new car inventory even worse than the pandemic did.

Anybody heard any evidence to support this?

Like Reply
28-Cars-Later on Aug 11, 2023

Fain: Where's you're f***ng money?

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Tassos Obsolete relic is NOT a used car.It might have attracted some buyers in ITS DAY, 1985, 40 years ago, but NOT today, unless you are a damned fool.
Stan Reither Jr. Part throttle efficiency was mentioned earlier in a postThis type of reciprocating engine opens the door to achieve(slightly) variable stroke which would provide variable mechanical compression ratio adjustments for high vacuum (light load) or boost(power) conditions IMO
Joe65688619 Keep in mind some of these suppliers are not just supplying parts, but assembled components (easy example is transmissions). But there are far more, and the more they are electronically connected and integrated with rest of the platform the more complex to design, engineer, and manufacture. Most contract manufacturers don't make a lot of money in the design and engineering space because their customers to that. Commodity components can be sourced anywhere, but there are only a handful of contract manufacturers (usually diversified companies that build all kinds of stuff for other brands) can engineer and build the more complex components, especially with electronics. Every single new car I've purchased in the last few years has had some sort of electronic component issue: Infinti (battery drain caused by software bug and poorly grounded wires), Acura (radio hiss, pops, burps, dash and infotainment screens occasionally throw errors and the ignition must be killed to reboot them, voice nav, whether using the car's system or CarPlay can't seem to make up its mind as to which speakers to use and how loud, even using the same app on the same trip - I almost jumped in my seat once), GMC drivetrain EMF causing a whine in the speakers that even when "off" that phased with engine RPM), Nissan (didn't have issues until 120K miles, but occassionally blew fuses for interior components - likely not a manufacturing defect other than a short developed somewhere, but on a high-mileage car that was mechanically sound was too expensive to fix (a lot of trial and error and tracing connections = labor costs). What I suspect will happen is that only the largest commodity suppliers that can really leverage their supply chain will remain, and for the more complex components (think bumper assemblies or the electronics for them supporting all kinds of sensors) will likley consolidate to a handful of manufacturers who may eventually specialize in what they produce. This is part of the reason why seemingly minor crashes cost so much - an auto brand does nst have the parts on hand to replace an integrated sensor , nor the expertice as they never built them, but bought them). And their suppliers, in attempt to cut costs, build them in way that is cheap to manufacture (not necessarily poorly bulit) but difficult to replace without swapping entire assemblies or units).I've love to see an article on repair costs and how those are impacting insurance rates. You almost need gap insurance now because of how quickly cars depreciate yet remain expensive to fix (orders more to originally build, in some cases). No way I would buy a CyberTruck - don't want one, but if I did, this would stop me. And it's not just EVs.
Joe65688619 I agree there should be more sedans, but recognize the trend. There's still a market for performance oriented-drivers. IMHO a low budget sedan will always be outsold by a low budget SUV. But a sports sedan, or a well executed mid-level sedan (the Accord and Camry) work. Smaller market for large sedans except I think for an older population. What I'm hoping to see is some consolidation across brands - the TLX for example is not selling well, but if it was offered only in the up-level configurations it would not be competing with it's Honda sibling. I know that makes the market smaller and niche, but that was the original purpose of the "luxury" brands - badge-engineering an existing platform at a relatively lower cost than a different car and sell it with a higher margin for buyers willing and able to pay for them. Also creates some "brand cachet." But smart buyers know that simple badging and slightly better interiors are usually not worth the cost. Put the innovative tech in the higher-end brands first, differentiate they drivetrain so it's "better" (the RDX sells well for Acura, same motor and tranmission, added turbo which makes a notable difference compared to the CRV). The sedan in many Western European countries is the "family car" as opposed to micro and compact crossovers (which still sell big, but can usually seat no more than a compact sedan).
Jonathan IMO the hatchback sedans like the Audi A5 Sportback, the Kia Stinger, and the already gone Buick Sportback are the answer to SUVs. The A5 and the AWD version of the Stinger being the better overall option IMO. I drive the A5, and love the depth and size of the trunk space as well as the low lift over. I've yet to find anything I need to carry that I can't, although I admit I don't carry things like drywall, building materials, etc. However, add in the fun to drive handling characteristics, there's almost no SUV that compares.