2023-09-29 14:49:32
There are almost 13,000 workers with their arms crossed.
By: CSP-Conlutas
2023 is a historic year for workers in the United States. The wave of strikes, which is already the largest in 50 years, was reinforced this Friday (15). Organized by the UAW (United Auto Workers), employees of GM, Ford and Stellantis launched a unified strike in defense of rights and for better wages.
This is the first time in the 88-year history of the UAW, which represents auto assembly workers, that a strike has simultaneously affected the country’s three major automakers. Together they manufacture more than half of the 15 million vehicles sold annually.
Today there are almost 13,000 unemployed workers who will stop manufacturing 24,000 cars per week. However, the plan is for the mobilization to grow in the coming days and affect the 150,000 assembly workers, becoming a general strike in the sector.
This year, the metalworking movement goes to meet the spirit of the American working class. By August, the United States had already experienced 900 strikes. Among them, the largest strike in the history of the North American postal service and the strike of the entertainment industry in Hollywood, which 175,000 professionals joined, stand out.
Claims
Suffering wage losses since the 2008 economic crisis, auto workers are demanding a 46% readjustment and that the increases correspond to those of the companies’ executive directors. To date, Ford and GM are offering a 20% increase over the life of the contract, and Stellantis is offering a 17.5% increase.
There is also a call for the return of traditional retirement pension and healthcare payment plans for all UAW members. Those hired before 2007 still have these benefits, but most hourly earners do not. Cost-of-living adjustments are also required to protect workers from inflation.
Among the demands are: elimination of the two salary bands and benefits for new hires, authorization of strikes in factory closures, a 32-hour work week paid as 40 hours, a pension and retirement health plan for all workers and conditions general hiring joint ventures [empresas conjuntas] of electric vehicles.
Historic moment
The historical milestones reached this year in the workers’ struggle in the United States point to the culmination of the resurgence of unionism. The signs could already be noticed in 2022, when a 50% increase in workers involved in strikes was recorded, compared to 2021.
The strikes also showed the true face of Joe Biden’s government, which despite declaring itself “pro-workers” appealed to Congress, in December of last year, to dismantle a strike by 155,000 rail transport workers.
Since the pandemic, the worsening quality of life and employment contracts, as well as inequality, have been evident. In the case of the assembly companies, the profit obtained by the three large companies on strike was 21,000 million dollars, only in the first months of the year. This prevents any justification of lack of resources.
All the support!
The CSP-Conlutas expressed its support for the strikers in a video and sent it to a section of the UAW. The post on X (formerly Twitter) quickly went viral. There are already 64,000 views. In the recording, Luís Carlos Prates, Mancha, member of the National Executive of our Central, showed solidarity.
“All our solidarity goes out to the United States automotive workers who are currently in the process of collective bargaining,” says Mancha. «Big companies and bosses are making a lot of money during this period while employees have their salaries frozen«.
“They impose reduced salary conditions and double salary levels [diferenciados]. This must come to an end and that is why we stand in solidarity with workers and the UAW. The CSP-Conlutas will do everything possible for you to emerge victorious. This is a fight that interests all workers in the world and can be a turning point in the wave of removal of rights and achievements. ”, he concludes.
Article published in www.pstu.org.br15/9/2023.-
Translation: Natalia Estrada.
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