Workers' Union Triumph Aids Laborers and Climate Conservation Efforts
The United Auto Workers (UAW) has launched a series of Stand Up Strikes at three assembly plants in Ohio, Missouri, and Michigan, marking a pivotal moment in the historic transition from gas-guzzling internal combustion engines to fully electric vehicles.
The strikes, which began on September 15, 2022, were initiated after the contract with automakers Stellantis, Ford, and General Motors expired. The UAW, backed by a reform movement, is uniquely positioned to lead a just and rapid transition to electric vehicles.
In just the first five months that Ultium, a joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution, was in operation, OSHA logs recorded an alarming 22 worker injuries. Despite being eligible for $1 billion worth of tax credits, wages for Ultium workers opened at a paltry $16.50 an hour, with little room for growth due to the wage and benefit tiers that have become standard in the auto industry.
Last month, the union was able to reach an interim agreement with Ultium, which immediately increased wages by $3 or $4 an hour for all workers and raised starting pay to $20. This interim agreement is a significant step towards addressing the concerns of UAW members like Christopher Viola, an auto worker at the GM Factory Zero in Detroit, who expressed concern that public investment in the transition might not lead to good jobs for workers.
The Big Three automakers have suggested that the union's demands, such as a wage increase and a 32-hour work week, would lead to bankruptcy. However, UAW President Shawn Fain has responded to these claims, stating that the automakers have made a quarter of a trillion in North American profits over the last decade.
The strikes occur amidst a time when President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act has invested billions of dollars to support the transition to electric vehicles. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, new automobile pollution standards seek to have two-thirds of new vehicle sales be electric by 2032.
The conditions for incendiary transformation have coalesced around the UAW auto worker members, ready for change in the industry. If UAW loses the fight over terms for a just transition at the negotiating table, it could set industry standards for a hellacious path in the EV rollout.
The delay in the EV transition, according to Thea Riofrancos, author of Resource Radicals, is more about who makes the decisions and who pays the costs, rather than speed. The Big Three automakers, along with the fossil fuel industry, the billionaire class, and global governance, are responsible for the nearly unwinnable situation we find ourselves in, where the fate of both working people and the continued habitability of our planet is linked to the outcome of the strike.
The leadership figure representing the United Auto Workers involved in the strikes at the automobile plants in Ohio, Missouri, and Michigan is not identified in the provided search results. However, President Fain described the list of "members' demands" sent to the automakers in early August as "the most audacious and ambitious list of proposals they've seen in decades."
Megan Biven, founder of True Transition, has stated that the Inflation Reduction Act, even when adjusted for inflation, spends significantly less than the New Deal in terms of job creation. This raises questions about the long-term impact of the EV transition on employment in the auto industry.
As the UAW continues its fight for better conditions for workers in the EV transition, the outcome could shape the future of the industry and the lives of millions of workers. The stakes are high, and the world watches as the UAW takes on the Big Three automakers.
