On Friday night, a strike by auto industry workers began in the United States. It is rightly called historic.
The auto industry workers’ union organized a dynamic strike in the three largest manufacturers, not everywhere at the same time, but in three factories of General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. With targeted strikes in Ohio, Michigan and Missouri, the car production chain of the aforementioned companies is affected.
The UAW auto industry union is demanding a 40 percent wage increase, real-time inflation and a 32-hour work week. The new union president Shawn Fain he is a man of new times, social networks and innovative approaches. “This is a defining moment for our generation. The money is available. The demands are just. The world is watching. And the UAW is ready to fight.”
The workers – currently 13,000 of them are on strike – are convinced that they have paid the price for business mistakes, the abandonment of production and economic fluctuations. Jesse Ramirezpresident of the local UAW chapter, says: “A 40- or even 46-percent raise is justified. If a member of the board can afford a 22-percent raise in a single year, and if you multiply that by the four years covered by our agreement signed before the pandemic, his raise can be 68%. afford $50,000 watches and mansions in Mexico. Our workers can barely afford the cars they make, let alone live the American dream.”
CEO of GM Mary Barra she is disappointed. “Our offer, and a very strong one at that, is still on the table: not only in terms of a 20% salary increase, but also the provision of superior health care and workplace safety.”
Garrett Nelson from the CFRA Center for Financial Research and Analysis: “I think the winner will be Tesla, where the workers are not unionized, but at the same time it is one of the strongest players in the electric vehicle market. The strike will benefit manufacturers outside the US, such as Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen and others.”
Democratic politicians express their understanding of the union’s demands. Even the president Joe Bidenwho sent the Acting Secretary of Labor to Detroit, where the UAW and all three auto companies are headquartered, to help with negotiations Julie Su and his economic adviser Gene Sperling.
Source: Rtvslo
