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UAW Strikes General Motors |
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Some 73,000 UAW members at General Motors Corp. (GM) plants across the country went on strike today after an 11 a.m. strike deadline passed. Negotiations will continue later today as the workers walk the picket lines, according to the UAW.
The UAW set the strike deadline Sunday, saying GM had failed to address job security and other key issues. At a news conference today with other UAW officials, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said job security was the “No. 1 issue” in what he calls the “one-sided negotiations.”
It was going to be General Motors’ way at the expense of the workers. They walked right up to the deadline like they really didn’t care….This is as serious as anything that any of us do. There is not one person on this stage that wanted these negotiations to end in a strike….But again, you can be pushed off a cliff and that’s what we feel like happened here.
(Listen to Gettelfinger’s full remarks here.)
The contract expired Sept. 14, and the UAW agreed to extend the contract in an effort to reach a settlement. But UAW Vice President Carl Rapson, director of the union’s GM Department, says the company’s actions at the table are:
A complete failure by GM to address the reasonable needs and concerns of our members. Instead, in 2007 company executives continued to award themselves bonuses while demanding that our members accept a reduced standard of living.
Negotiations with the Big Three automakers began in July and GM was selected as the lead negotiations partner for strike target in September. Contracts with Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. have been extended and workers there remain on the job.
In a statement last night, Gettelfinger said:
We’re shocked and disappointed that General Motors has failed to recognize and appreciate what our membership has contributed during the past four years. Since 2003, our members have made extraordinary efforts every time the company came to us with a problem: the corporate restructuring, the attrition plan, the Delphi bankruptcy, the 2005 health care agreement. In every case our members went the extra mile to find reasonable solutions.
Throughout this time period, it has been the dedication of UAW members that has helped GM set new standards for safety, quality and productivity in their manufacturing facilities. And in this current round of bargaining, we did everything possible to negotiate a new contract, including an unprecedented agreement to stay at the bargaining table nine days past the expiration of the previous agreement.
Trapper John at Daily Kos makes it clear why this strike affects us all:
The UAW was at the heart of the creation of what we know as the American middle class—more than any other force in society, it institutionalized the idea that workers should be entitled to health care, vacation, and a secure and comfortable retirement. [snip] The UAW made it possible for a man like my grandfather, a brilliant guy from the Irish ghetto in Buffalo who never had the opportunity to study past high school, to send every single one of his kids to college. And the victories won by the UAW bore fruit well beyond the homes of their members—because of the size and importance of the union, every UAW contract had a massive ripple effect. Employers in other industries—even non-union employers—had to raise their standards to attract employees.
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All union brothers and sisters need to support our UAW brothers and sisters in their fight with GM. A boycott may be in order. Pickets at local dealerships can help. I’ve seen it happen with the Goodyear strike. If we sit back and go on with business as usual, I think it gives big business the upper hand. We all need to band together to take this fight of the GM workers and help them to be victorious. If thousands more union members join the 73,000, it could be the boost that labor has needed to tell big business as well as the political circus, that we are tired of being used up and tossed out like yesterday’s news. We are tired of being made to feel like second class citizens in the name of corporates greed.
STAND UP, FIGHT BACK
Not so fast: Sure we can talk about boycotts today, but what about supporting our brothers and sisters by buying American cars! I drive a Vibe, for example. I love it and am telling all the little Japanese car owners I know to take the pledge on the next go-round. Buy union. If every union member in America bought Union-made cars and trucks, that would do so much more to protect UAW jobs than boycotts or even the strongest contracts will. It was shocking to read in the newspaper that GM has lost its place as the number one car manufacturer for the first time in 75 years. (I think I got that right.) Yes, we can blame bad management decisions for this, but we also have to blame shortsighted American buying habits.
UAW brothers and sisters, hang in there. Your battle is ours.
You misunderstand my intentions. Of course I don’t mean to boycott American made products when things are running good and union workers are getting what is fair. I am talking about a boycott that actually helps the striking unions cause and hurts the company. If everyone just keeps on with business as usual, and keeps on buying GM products while the union strikes, how does that make the company feel the pinch. Do you get my drift? And I do buy American made vehicles. And I don’t mean Honda.
SOLIDARITY
Union Sister is absolutly right. While organized labor can have a strong impact on elections, we can have the biggest impact on our own lives by supporting each other. All of us, active or retired, have to make a pledge and stick to it. Buy American, Buy Union!!! By buying only “Union Made” whenever possible, we are keeping our jobs alive. By buying “Made in USA” from unorganized American companies, we are supporting American jobs with the possibility of organizing them later. It’s up to us to increase our market share. It’s painfully obvious that our government is not going to help us. If we want to boycott a company, boycott when it has it’s biggest impact. When an American Company makes plans to outsource it’s work. If we had done this in full force years ago, there would be more of us today! When we represent a major share of the market, companies will understand that we are still a force to be reckoned with. We all have to stick together! We have to all stand behind the UAW in this strike because they are striking against the #1 thing that’s destroying us all, outsourcing!!
Now GM wants the UAW to take over the pension funds. After under funding the funds by 50% a year or more. This is the reason for the shortage of money in the funds to pay the retirees there pension money. Let no worker believe for a minute that GM is broke. They are the largest car producer in the US with union workers. I am a disabeled retired worker and call on all workers organized or about to be organized to support the GM workers. This includes picketing and financially supporting the families.
We are with you in your fight hang tight together you are as one,saftbrat52@yahoo.com UAW Local 7893 Ft.Smith,Ar.
Yes yes yes. Both of you make valid points. And both are after the fact. The GM workers are already on strike. Boycotts need not necessarily be aimed just at GM. There are many other players in the auto industry that can be boycotted. Parts manufacturers, banks that hold liens on GM, other stock holders that may hold a lien on GM. Car dealerships and vendors are some more. If you want to put the squeeze on GM, then you need to look at all possible means of doing so. If pressure is applied to the afore mentioned players, they in turn can help apply pressure to GM to resolve the strike. There are many books out there that deal with strategies for winning a strike campaign. One such book is called A Trouble Makers Handbook 2 -How to Fight Back Where You Work and Win! edited by Jane Slaughter. Lots of good stuff.
Like I said, I’m not discounting what both of you said. Very valid points. I’m just saying if you are going up against big corporations with big bank rolls, then you need to put the squeeze on fast and utilize the other players in the game to help achieve that goal.
SOLIDARITY!
As a member of the National Writers’ Union (UAW Local 1981) and OPEIU Local 277, I really enjoyed joining my union brothers and sisters walking the picket lines at the GM plant in Wilmington, Delaware yesterday.
I urge all union members to join the picket lines of other unions at every opportunity. We need labor solidarity. Only by supporting each other will we find strength. Only by standing together will we find justice.
Sincerely,
Stephen Crockett