Dianne Feeley is a retired auto worker in UAW Local 22 in Detroit.
After launching the longest strike in decades, General Motors workers are voting on a tentative deal. But the agreement meets neither of the strikers’ most important demands: ending plant closings and scrapping the rotten system of tiered pay and benefits.
The United Auto Workers strike against General Motors continues to grind on, now approaching week four. The company has dug in its heels. But so have the workers.
The GM workers out on strike have been hit with concessions for years. They need more than a decent contract — they need a transformational agreement that puts workers’ rights before GM’s profits.
Nearly 50,000 UAW members are on strike for the third day. For years, they’ve been hit with plant closings, pay cuts, and two-tier contracts — and they aren’t ready to make concessions.
For forty years, the UAW has sought to act as management’s “partner” in running the auto industry. The results have been a disaster.
Racism, inequality, and austerity politics were the culprits in the poisoning of Flint, Michigan. And residents are still living with the consequences.
The automobile industry takes massive risks with workers’ and consumers’ lives every day.
Last month’s Supreme Court decision dealt a blow to the most zealous anti-abortion legislators.
Workers successfully fought for better contracts from Detroit automakers in the latest bargaining round. But they’re still plagued by historic givebacks.