everything you need to know
Shawn Fain, president of United Auto Workers, greets workers at the Stellantis Sterling Heights assembly plant, to mark the start of contract negotiations in Sterling Heights, Michigan, United States, July 12, 2023.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
DETROIT – The United Auto Workers union is preparing to carry out unprecedented targeted strikes against Ford engineGeneral Motors and Stellantis if the parties fail to reach new agreements by 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Targeted strikes, or bottlenecks, are an alternative to national actions in which the union strikes only at certain factories. This is not the same as when members walk out of every factory and onto picket lines, like what happened four years ago during the last round of UAW negotiations with General engines.
Targeted strikes typically focus on key factories, which can then cause other factories to shut down production due to a lack of parts. They are not unprecedented, but the way UAW President Shawn Fain plans to proceed with the work stoppages is not typical. They include launching targeted strikes in certain factories, then possibly increasing the number of strikes depending on the state of negotiations.
“We will hit all three companies, a historic first, initially in a limited number of targeted locations that we will announce. Then, depending on how the negotiations progress, we will announce more local sections that will be called upon to intervene. stand up and strike,” Fain said Wednesday during a Facebook Live.
Fain called the union’s plans a “standing strike,” a nod to the historic “sit-down” strikes led by the UAW in the 1930s.
Although “historic,” targeted strikes could have unintended ripple effects. It is not clear what impact one plant will have on others. These actions could also potentially send non-striking union workers to the unemployment lines, if their state allows them to collect benefits due to unemployment following a strike.
What about lockouts?
Work stoppages also make it easier for companies to hire permanent replacement workers and even conduct factory lockouts, labor experts say.
The UAW’s strategy puts “a little bit of pressure on businesses,” but it also gives businesses “a lot more ability” to use such tactics, said Dennis Devaney, senior attorney at Clark Hill, a former council member. of directors of the National Labor Relations Board. .
Read more about the union standoff in Detroit
“I think it’s obviously not a good thing from the UAW’s perspective,” said Devaney, who has also served as an attorney for GM and Ford.
Factory lockouts, in which companies do not allow workers into a facility, are more common abroad than in the United States, but they have occurred.
For example, there was a lockout of approximately 10 months for workers at a Exxon Mobile refinery in Texas that ended last year after the union ratified a new agreement. The company said this was done in response to a strike notice issued by the union during negotiations in January 2021 for a new contract.
Automakers, however, may want to continue producing parts and vehicles at their factories as long as they can if strikes intensify, particularly after years of supply chain disruptions due to shortages of parts and the coronavirus pandemic.
There are “significant and important factors” that companies must consider in determining whether such “actions might be legal and appropriate,” said Jeffrey S. Kopp, an employment law attorney with 26 years of experience and partner at Foley & Lardner. .
The UAW knows lockouts are an option, saying “everything is on the table” for both sides if it comes to striking under expired agreements, a person familiar with the UAW’s plans said. union.
Expired offers
The UAW has never held a strike of this type before, because under the terms of the union’s national contracts with Detroit automakers, strikes at individual plants must be over local contracts, not national issues. But Fain said the UAW would strike local factories for national reasons.
(For context, the UAW as an organization has an “international” unit that operates a leader, or umbrella, for the local UAW units which all have their own contracts in addition to an agreement national.)
Generally, such actions would constitute a violation of contracts and could lead to litigation or a complaint to the NLRB. In 1998, for example, GM filed a lawsuit against the UAW, claiming that a bottleneck strike at two Michigan plants, which affected dozens of other company facilities, was illegal.
However, according to the union, this rule no longer matters since members are working under expired contracts that void these conditions.
Ben Dictor, who serves as legal counsel for the UAW, said most contracts, such as wages and working conditions, are still in effect, but the “no strike and lockout clause” expired. This means the union can strike, but it also opens the door for companies to potentially lock out their workers.
“As part of the standing strike, some of us will be working without a contract. This is a critical part of our strategy to unbalance businesses by calling locals to strike based on what happens in negotiations “, said the dictator. said in a video posted online Thursday by the union. “This will keep them guessing and energize your national negotiators in negotiations with the big three.”
Strike fund
Carrying out targeted strikes can be complex because the impact of one plant on others is unclear. These actions could potentially send non-striking union workers to the unemployment lines, if their state allows them to collect benefits due to unemployment following a strike.
Targeted strikes will also save the union money because it won’t have to pay “strike pay” to as many members from its $825 million strike fund.
The fund pays each eligible member $500 per week, which would mean it would have enough money for about 11 weeks if all members went on strike. However, that doesn’t include healthcare costs the union would cover, such as temporary COBRA plans, which would likely drain the fund much faster.
Asked about the strike fund’s ability to support the union, Fain regularly spoke about how past union leaders led work stoppages without pay and the need for UAW members to stick together.
“No one is going to come and save us. No one can win this fight for us. Our greatest hope, and/or our only hope, is to stay together,” Fain said. “I will tell you this, I am at peace with the decision to strike if I have to because I know we are on the right side of this battle.”
cnbc Business
