Washington — A majority of Democratic U.S. senators on Wednesday urged the CEOs of the Detroit Three automakers to fold workers at joint-venture electric vehicle battery plants into the national United Auto Workers’ contract.
The union representing around 400,000 workers in Michigan and across the country opened negotiations over new contracts with the companies earlier this month. One of the major points of contention is representation at battery plants — operating under joint ventures between the automakers and foreign companies, and which aren’t covered by the national contracts that expire Sept. 14.
“We urge you to negotiate in good faith to reach a fair outcome by agreeing to fold workers at all joint venture electric vehicle battery facilities into the national UAW contract,” the senators wrote in the letter led by Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio.
“UAW workers have made General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Stellantis the successful, innovative, and profitable companies they are today, and workers in the new electric vehicle sector will be critical to your future success. They must share in the benefits of a union contract.”
The letter was addressed to General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra, Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley, Stellantis NV CEO Carlos Tavares and the executives of their joint-venture partners: Kee Eun of Ultium Cells, Robert Rhee of BlueOval SK, and Seiwon Chun of StarPlus Energy, respectively.
The senators’ letter comes as UAW leadership puts pressure on Democrats, and particularly President Joe Biden, to ramp up their public support for the union and further tie generous Inflation Reduction Act subsidies for EVs to guarantees of high wages and benefits. The union’s leaders have withheld their endorsement for Biden’s re-election campaign, saying they “want to see national leadership have our back on this before we make any commitments.”
The IRA included nearly $400 billion in incentives for clean energy production, and some estimates show the true cost will be much higher. The senators wrote that those investments were important to combat climate change, but that they “are not a blank check on worker conditions.”
The talks are happening during a transformative time in the U.S. auto industry, as production pivots to electric vehicles and promises to have massive consequences for autoworkers’ futures. The automakers have said workers at the new joint-venture plants will decide on their own whether to unionize, and those workforces will be subject to their own negotiations and contracts.
UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement that the negotiations will determine the future of the auto industry for the decades ahead, “so we have to get it right.”
“This is when real friends show up,” he said. “Our members are thankful for the partnership we have with these senators.”
The Ultium Cells LLC plant in Warren, Ohio, is the only Detroit Three joint-venture battery factory operating, though numerous other battery production facilities are planned. Ultium Cells is a joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solutions that supplies battery cells for GM’s current and coming electric vehicles.
Workers at the northeast Ohio plant voted to unionize in 2022. Wages at the plant range from around $16 to $22 per hour, compared with $18 to $32 per hour paid to UAW members at assembly plants covered by the national contract.
“It is unacceptable and a national disgrace that the starting wage at any current American joint venture electric vehicle battery facility is $16 an hour,” the senators wrote, adding that the Detroit Three have made huge profits over the last several years. “American workers, especially those working full time in 21st century state-of-the-art manufacturing, should not make poverty level wages.”
Spokespeople for Ford, GM and Stellantis did not immediately return requests for comment Thursday.
Michigan Sens. Debbie Stabenow of Lansing and Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township, both Democrats, did not sign on to the letter. They sent their own letter earlier this week urging the automakers to “negotiate in good faith” with the UAW to secure “equitable wages and benefits,” but did not call for the joint ventures to be included in the national contract.
rbeggin@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @rbeggin