United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain literally tossed aside Stellantis’ initial contract proposal, saying it represented a demand for concessions from the union, which is not prepared to make any in this year’s negotiations.
To make his point during an appearance on Facebook live, Fain also blasted Mark Stewart, Stellantis chief operating officer for being 10 minutes late for a meeting with the UAW bargaining team.
Absenteeism an explosive issue
Earlier this summer, Stellantis made a point of criticizing union members for absenteeism or being late for work and proposed a new and much stricter absenteeism policy in its contract proposal presented to the union this week.
In years past, issues revolving around absenteeism would have been resolved in committee behind closed doors are rarely debated publicly.
Fain, however, said Stewart’s casual approach to the meeting’s scheduled start, underscored the company’s hypocrisy around the absenteeism issue and the double standard the company applied to hourly workers. He also criticized Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, for not, bothering to show up for a face-to-face meeting with the UAW negotiators.
Stellantis also has not offered to re-open the shuttered assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois — a key union demand — and is asking for the right to close more plants, Fain said.
The contract proposal from the company also included new wage categories or tiers, gutted union members transfer rights and even would allow supervisors the right to step in do “bargaining unit work,” Fain said. “That’s where they belong, in the trash,” Fain said as he tossed the company’s handout into a wastebasket.
Distributing propaganda
Fain also accused the company of handing out “deceitful propaganda” at plant gates to sway union members. The handouts said the company was not seeking concessions, which simply was not true given the contract changes proposed by the company.
After Fain’s narrow victory in March in the first ever direct election to fill the union presidency, the UAW has taken a more militant stand than his scandal-ridden predecessors. Throughout his campaign, Fain vowed to take a tougher line with employers and promised to eliminate tiers and concessions from union contracts.
After winning by a mere 400 votes, Fain appears acutely aware he must win over more union members in his campaign for new and better contracts for workers. Fain noted again this week many younger union members live “paycheck to paycheck,” work long hours, which only adds to the stress in their lives and leads to fist fights in the plants.
Fain’s militancy and his decision to highlight the profits made by the Stellantis, General Motors and Ford has forced Detroit’s automakers to adjust. They are offering pay increases in the next contract, but they are balking at the union demands for shorter hours and the restoration of defined benefit pension plans. They are also trying to forestall the UAW demands that workers in the new EV and battery plants be included under any new contracts.
The UAW president also renewed his attack on executive compensation, noting Tavares earned $24.9 million in 2022 or about 355 times more than a typical hourly worker in one of the Stellantis factories. “I define his (compensation) as corporate greed,” he said.
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- Source: https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2023/08/uaws-fain-trashes-stellantis-contract-proposal/
