The head of the UAW told a packed rally Sunday that the union is not just fighting for economic justice for its members but the entire working class.
“I’ve been told throughout this thing that we’ve set expectations too high … You’re damn right we have because our members have high expectations, and record profits demand record contracts,” UAW President Shawn Fain said, repeating his now-famous campaign statement. “We have a plan, our plan is to bargain like hell and get the best deal for our membership.”
The solidarity rally at the UAW Region 1 offices in Warren comes 25 days before the UAW’s four-year contract with the Detroit Three expires on Sept. 14.
Generations of UAW members and supporters gathered, equally excited as they were angry, to cheer, chant and pump their fists for their fight.
This year, the UAW is arguing for an “audacious” list of demands, primarily concerning increasing wages to match the Detroit Three’s increasing profits. According to a press release for the rally, Ford, General Motors, and Jeep-parent Stellantis made a total of $250 billion in North American profits from 2013 to 2022. However, in just the first six months of 2023, they totaled $21 billion in total profits.
The UAW is demanding that these profits are reflected in workers’ wages, as well as cost of living adjustments. It is also demanding clearer job security for current employees as the auto industry transitions to electric vehicles.
If the demands are not met, employees may go on strike; currently, more than 150,000 UAW members hold strike authorization votes, with results expected on Aug. 24 or shortly after.
With over $825 million in the union strike fund, the UAW plans to pay each striking member $500 a week – only a little less than entry-level plant workers make working 40 hours a week.
As the crowd poured into the rally, they picked up white and blue balloons, pompoms and campaign posters for this year’s demands, which turned into a waving sea with each cheer and shout during each speech.
The audience created a field of red, each member wearing a UAW shirt with either their plant number or passionate slogans: “Same shift, different day,” “United we stand, divided we fall,” “I don’t want to strike but I will”, among others.
Gary Chesnutt, a retiree who worked for Ford from 1972 to 2008, said, “I’m a firm believer in sharing the wealth, and the company executives don’t want to share. They pay some people at the plant only a little more than they could get paid at Burger King… I’m very excited this is happening.”
Several different speakers took to the podium, from UAW leaders to supportive politicians to union members to lifelong retirees, each earning cheers and whistles, amping up the energy in the crowd.
“It’s a good day to be UAW…The backbone of the auto industry…The backbone, as they like to say, of the middle class. And let’s get this straight my friends, you didn’t just build the middle class, you sustain the middle class,” said U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a Democrat representing southwestern Michigan’s 11th District.
Jessie Kelly, a UAW Local 160 member and mold maker at GM’s Technical Center, said the union is looking for “reciprocated loyalty” from the automakers.
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“Recently we heard an update come out from the Stellantis department about ‘reciprocated loyalty’ … and that couldn’t be any closer to the truth,” Kelly said. “We are loyal when we show up to these corporations … and make them multimillion-dollar profits … All I ask in return today is reciprocated loyalty. If you read the list of members’ demands, every single one of them can be summed up to that.”
“These CEOs have generational wealth. They can take care of their families 10 or 15 years down the road … We can’t even pay our bills. We can’t put gas in our cars. We can’t buy food,” UAW Vice President Rich Boyer, director of the UAW-Stellantis department. “We can’t buy the products we build.”
When Fain took the podium, wearing a shirt sporting the slogan “End tiers: No 2nd class workers,” the audience was drawn in like a magnet, a circle of red around the podium humming with energy and admiration.
Fain proceeded to go through the UAW’s list of demands for this upcoming contract one-by-one, the energy in the room skyrocketing with each reason for demand. As his 10-minute speech came to an end, he joined hands with the other speakers, encouraged the crowd to do the same and began to collectively sway to the tune of “Lean on Me”.