Labor Notes

Auto Workers Strike Spreads to 38 Parts Depots

Steward's Corner - Fri, 2023-09-22 11:55

The clock has ticked and tocked for two of the Big 3 automakers. At noon 5,000 more members of the Auto Workers (UAW) at 38 parts distribution centers for Stellantis and General Motors walked off the job. The facilities are spread across 20 states.

Categories: Labor Notes

Auto Workers Strike Spreads to 38 Parts Depots

Magazine Stories - Fri, 2023-09-22 11:55

The clock has ticked and tocked for two of the Big 3 automakers. At noon 5,000 more members of the Auto Workers (UAW) at 38 parts distribution centers for Stellantis and General Motors walked off the job. The facilities are spread across 20 states.

Categories: Labor Notes

Viewpoint: Auto Bargaining in Canada—Stuck in the Past?

Steward's Corner - Thu, 2023-09-21 15:13

Bargaining with the Detroit 3 auto corporations is happening in Canada and the United States at the same time this year—the first time that bargaining has aligned since the disastrous bankruptcy negotiations and forced concessions of 2009. Unifor just reached a tentative agreement with Ford earlier this week, while the United Auto Workers’ strike against selected Ford, Stellantis and General Motors plants is ongoing.

Categories: Labor Notes

Viewpoint: Auto Bargaining in Canada—Stuck in the Past?

Magazine Stories - Thu, 2023-09-21 15:13

Bargaining with the Detroit 3 auto corporations is happening in Canada and the United States at the same time this year—the first time that bargaining has aligned since the disastrous bankruptcy negotiations and forced concessions of 2009. Unifor just reached a tentative agreement with Ford earlier this week, while the United Auto Workers’ strike against selected Ford, Stellantis and General Motors plants is ongoing.

Categories: Labor Notes

Mexican Auto Parts Workers Face Blacklist After Union Campaign

Steward's Corner - Thu, 2023-09-21 13:43

In August 2022, auto parts workers at VU Manufacturing won a landmark election to gain recognition for a new independent union, the Mexican Workers’ League (La Liga). A year later, after refusing to negotiate a new contract, the company has shut down, leaving 400 workers jobless—and 71 workers without their legally-mandated severance pay.

Categories: Labor Notes

Mexican Auto Parts Workers Face Blacklist After Union Campaign

Magazine Stories - Thu, 2023-09-21 13:43

In August 2022, auto parts workers at VU Manufacturing won a landmark election to gain recognition for a new independent union, the Mexican Workers’ League (La Liga). A year later, after refusing to negotiate a new contract, the company has shut down, leaving 400 workers jobless—and 71 workers without their legally-mandated severance pay.

Categories: Labor Notes

To Beat the Heat, 'We Can't Rely on Management. We Have to Keep Each Other Safe'

Steward's Corner - Wed, 2023-09-20 18:35

The death of UPS driver Chris Begley, 57, who collapsed in August while making a delivery in 103-degree Texas heat, was no isolated incident.

Monitoring co-workers for signs of heat exhaustion has become a routine feature of the job, says fellow driver Seth Pacic, a shop steward in Begley’s union, Teamsters Local 767.

Pacic has learned to discern over the phone when a co-worker needs to find air conditioning ASAP—and when they’re deteriorating so badly that he should call paramedics and brave management’s wrath.

Categories: Labor Notes

To Beat the Heat, 'We Can't Rely on Management. We Have to Keep Each Other Safe'

Magazine Stories - Wed, 2023-09-20 18:35

The death of UPS driver Chris Begley, 57, who collapsed in August while making a delivery in 103-degree Texas heat, was no isolated incident.

Monitoring co-workers for signs of heat exhaustion has become a routine feature of the job, says fellow driver Seth Pacic, a shop steward in Begley’s union, Teamsters Local 767.

Pacic has learned to discern over the phone when a co-worker needs to find air conditioning ASAP—and when they’re deteriorating so badly that he should call paramedics and brave management’s wrath.

Categories: Labor Notes

Work Overtime During a Strike? Auto Workers Say ‘Eight and Skate’

Steward's Corner - Mon, 2023-09-18 20:16

Only 13,000 of 146,000 auto workers at the Big 3 companies are on strike, so far. But others still on the job are turning up the heat by refusing voluntary overtime.

At all three companies—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis—Auto Workers (UAW) members have told Labor Notes about overtime refusals. Many Big 3 plants are hugely dependent on overtime to make up for understaffing.

Categories: Labor Notes

Work Overtime During a Strike? Auto Workers Say ‘Eight and Skate’

Magazine Stories - Mon, 2023-09-18 20:16

Only 13,000 of 146,000 auto workers at the Big 3 companies are on strike, so far. But others still on the job are turning up the heat by refusing voluntary overtime.

At all three companies—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis—Auto Workers (UAW) members have told Labor Notes about overtime refusals. Many Big 3 plants are hugely dependent on overtime to make up for understaffing.

Categories: Labor Notes

VA Firings Reversed, So Trump Makes Grievance Settlement a Campaign Issue

Steward's Corner - Mon, 2023-09-18 11:53

It’s rare that a union grievance settlement becomes a U.S. presidential campaign issue. But thanks to the American Federation of Government Employees’ successful defense of workers unfairly dismissed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Donald Trump is now running for the White House on a platform that includes firing “every corrupt VA bureaucrat who Joe Biden has outrageously refused to remove from the job or put back in the job.”

Categories: Labor Notes

VA Firings Reversed, So Trump Makes Grievance Settlement a Campaign Issue

Magazine Stories - Mon, 2023-09-18 11:53

It’s rare that a union grievance settlement becomes a U.S. presidential campaign issue. But thanks to the American Federation of Government Employees’ successful defense of workers unfairly dismissed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Donald Trump is now running for the White House on a platform that includes firing “every corrupt VA bureaucrat who Joe Biden has outrageously refused to remove from the job or put back in the job.”

Categories: Labor Notes

‘No Justice, No Jeeps!’ Scenes from the Auto Workers Strike

Steward's Corner - Fri, 2023-09-15 17:32

The strike is on. Last night the Auto Workers (UAW) shut down three major assembly plants at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler). It’s the first time in history the union has struck all three companies at once.

Categories: Labor Notes

‘No Justice, No Jeeps!’ Scenes from the Auto Workers Strike

Magazine Stories - Fri, 2023-09-15 17:32

The strike is on. Last night the Auto Workers (UAW) shut down three major assembly plants at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler). It’s the first time in history the union has struck all three companies at once.

Categories: Labor Notes

Auto Workers Strike Plants at All Three of the Big 3

Steward's Corner - Fri, 2023-09-15 00:21

Tick, tock. At midnight the clock ran out, and auto workers massed on picket lines.

The first-ever simultaneous strike at the Big 3 automakers—General Motors, Ford, Stellantis—started September 15 with 13,000 workers walking out of three assembly plants in Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri. There are 146,000 Auto Workers (UAW) members at the Big 3.

The UAW is calling its strategy the “stand-up strike,” a nod to the Flint sit-down strike of 1936-1937 that helped establish the union.

Categories: Labor Notes

Auto Workers Strike Plants at All Three of the Big 3

Magazine Stories - Fri, 2023-09-15 00:21

Tick, tock. At midnight the clock ran out, and auto workers massed on picket lines.

The first-ever simultaneous strike at the Big 3 automakers—General Motors, Ford, Stellantis—started September 15 with 13,000 workers walking out of three assembly plants in Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri. There are 146,000 Auto Workers (UAW) members at the Big 3.

The UAW is calling its strategy the “stand-up strike,” a nod to the Flint sit-down strike of 1936-1937 that helped establish the union.

Categories: Labor Notes

When Auto Workers Stand Up, Here's How to Stand with Them

Steward's Corner - Wed, 2023-09-13 13:53

September 14: This article has been updated to identify the plants where workers will strike on day one.

The Auto Workers (UAW) strike, which the union is dubbing the "Stand Up Strike," could be a turning point for the U.S. labor movement—and all of us across the movement can lend a hand to help the strikers win.

Cross-union solidarity can turn up the heat on the Big 3 to end tiers and make green jobs good jobs. It can also boost strikers’ morale and build connections that endure for years to come.

Categories: Labor Notes

When Auto Workers Stand Up, Here's How to Stand with Them

Magazine Stories - Wed, 2023-09-13 13:53

September 14: This article has been updated to identify the plants where workers will strike on day one.

The Auto Workers (UAW) strike, which the union is dubbing the "Stand Up Strike," could be a turning point for the U.S. labor movement—and all of us across the movement can lend a hand to help the strikers win.

Cross-union solidarity can turn up the heat on the Big 3 to end tiers and make green jobs good jobs. It can also boost strikers’ morale and build connections that endure for years to come.

Categories: Labor Notes

Don’t Do the Boss Any Favors

Steward's Corner - Wed, 2023-09-13 09:59

Management everywhere relies on workers “going the extra mile.” We cut corners, we skip breaks, and we look the other way on common violations of the contract, work rules, or even safety.

But it’s also possible, when the time is right, to just stop doing the boss these favors. After all, how often does management do workers a favor?

Categories: Labor Notes

Don’t Do the Boss Any Favors

Magazine Stories - Wed, 2023-09-13 09:59

Management everywhere relies on workers “going the extra mile.” We cut corners, we skip breaks, and we look the other way on common violations of the contract, work rules, or even safety.

But it’s also possible, when the time is right, to just stop doing the boss these favors. After all, how often does management do workers a favor?

Categories: Labor Notes
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