UAW launches unprecedented push to organize 13 automakers in US
Jamie L. LaReau, Detroit Free Press
Updated 7 min read
After winning record labor contracts this month with the Detroit Three car companies, the United Auto Workers is now taking on all nonunion automakers operating in the United States in a massive and unprecedented public organizing campaign.
On Wednesday, the UAW said workers at more than a dozen nonunion automakers across the United States have announced simultaneous campaigns to join the UAW.
That means "thousands of non-union autoworkers are signing cards at the new UAW webpage UAW.org/join and are publicly organizing to join the UAW," the union said in a news release. The organizing drive will cover nearly 150,000 autoworkers across 13 automakers, according to the release.
Strikers walk out at noon from 38 GM, Stellantis parts including Center Line Packaging as UAW President Shawn Fain called for more shops to go out on strike Friday, Sept. 22, 2023.
According to a UAW flyer made available to the Detroit Free Press and expected to be made public on social media and in factories in coming days, here's how the organizing process will work:
Once 30% of workers at a plant sign union cards on the UAW's website, a committee of plant autoworkers will go public to say the facility is working toward unionizing.
Once half the workforce signs the cards, a public rally with UAW President Shawn Fain and other leaders will be held to demonstrate support for union representation.
After 70% of the workforce has signed the cards, an organizing committee made up of plant workers will demand that the company recognize the union. If it does not, the UAW will file cards with the National Labor Relations Board and takes it to a plant vote.
To complement the effort, the union is launching Wednesday a three-minute video on social media outlining the benefits of belonging to the union.
“Big Three autoworkers at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis just won big raises, more job security and cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for one simple reason: They’re organized," Fain said in the video, which was shared with the Detroit Free Press before its public release. "To all the autoworkers out there working without the benefits of a union, now it’s your turn.”
Workers have reached out to join
In the video, Fain points out that electric vehicle makers Tesla, Rivian and Lucid have reported big profits in recent years and Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Subaru and Mazda — the Japanese and South Korean six — made $470 billion in profits combined over the past decade, "with more than 40% of their revenue coming from their North American operations." He added that the German Three: Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes Benz, have made $460 billion in profits in the past decade. He said workers deserve "a record cut of those record profits."
As the Detroit Free Press has reported, the UAW conducted a targeted Stand-Up strike from Sept. 15 to Oct. 30 against the Detroit carmakers. The union won 4½-year contracts at all three companies that included a 25% base wage increase over the life of the contract, a return of COLA, new plant investments and more.
A still from the UAW's video of workers rallying in support of the union.
In the video, Fain said since beginning the Stand-Up strike, the response from nonunion workers has been "overwhelming."
“Workers across the country from the West to the Midwest and especially in the South are reaching out to join our movement and to join the UAW," Fain said. "The money is there, the time is right and the answer is simple: You don’t have to live paycheck to paycheck, you don’t have to worry about how you’re gonna pay your rent or feed your family while the company makes billions. A better life is out there and it starts with you: UAW.”
Some foreign automakers have reacted
This is not the first time the UAW has tried to organize nonunion U.S. auto factories, most of them built by Asian and European automakers in Southern U.S. states where "right-to-work" labor laws make it optional for workers to pay union dues. But despite failing to organize in the past, automakers in those states are concerned enough about it to react after the UAW settled its contract with the Detroit automakers. Several nonunion automakers responded by raising pay and shortening wage progressions.
But Fain said nonunion autoworkers still remain far behind UAW autoworkers in wages and benefits, and rights on the job.
UAW President Shawn Fain walks with dozens of United Auto Workers during a rally outside the UAW-Ford Joint Trusts Center in Detroit on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023.
The UAW said one of the strongest campaigns at the moment is at Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky, assembly complex, where 7,800 workers make the company’s Camry sedan and highly profitable RAV 4 and Lexus ES SUVs. Even though Toyota has given a wage increase, 29-year-old Toyota Georgetown employee Jeff Allen has had two work-related surgeries and is concerned about health benefits, the UAW said in a release. Allen reportedly said the raise won’t dissuade workers from organizing.
“We’ve lost so much since I started here, and the raise won’t make up for that,” said Allen in the release. “It won’t make up for the health benefits we’ve lost, it won’t make up for the wear and tear on our bodies. We still build a quality vehicle. People take pride in that, but morale is at an all-time low. They can give you a raise today and jack up your health benefits tomorrow. A union contract is the only way to win what’s fair.”
A Toyota spokesperson did not immediately provide a comment to the UAW's organizing efforts. Requests for comment were sent to Hyundai, Mazda, BMW, Volvo, Lucid and Rivian but not immediately answered Wednesday.
Volkswagen spokesman Michael Lowder declined to comment. Mercedes-Benz also declined to comment.
Nissan spokeswoman Amanda Plecas said in an email that Nissan "respects the right of employees to determine who should represent their interests in the workplace. However, we believe our workplace is stronger without the involvement of a third party."
In an email, America Honda Motor Co. spokesperson Chris Abbruzzese said, “Over the past 40 years, no automaker has been more successful in growing its U.S. production operations than Honda, something we have done based on our approach of teamwork, respect and open communication, in addition to maintaining competitive wages and benefits. We do not believe an outside party would enhance the excellent employment experience of our associates, nor would it improve upon the outstanding track record of success and employment stability Honda manufacturing associates in America have achieved.”
At Subaru of Indiana Automotive in Lafayette, Indiana, about 6,000 people build the Ascent, Crosstrek, Legacy and Outback vehicles, according to www.Subaru-SIA.com website. Spokesman Craig Koven told the Free Press in an email, "Prior to recent industry developments, Subaru of Indiana Automotive has consistently demonstrated a commitment to proactively do the right thing for its associates."
In a statement, Koven said, "As part of our semi-annual wage review conducted this time each year, current industry conditions were taken into consideration. In January, we will implement increases at each step of our wage scales — including the largest production increase in company history. With this change, our top production wage will have increased seven times and more than 24% since 2019."
He said the plant remains "the only known non-U.S. auto manufacturer to provide premium-free healthcare, as well as the sole auto manufacturer to make company-matching contributions to flexible spending accounts."
'Unprecedented' public organizing
On Wednesday, General Motors leaders said North American labor costs will increase by $1.5 billion this year compared with 2019 contracts due to the new UAW contract, but the automaker said it is looking across the company for ways to offset the increase. CEO Mary Barra said the new contract with the UAW will add about $500 in cost to GM per vehicle in 2024 and about $575 per vehicle on average over the life of contract, Barra said.
Ford has not assigned a total dollar value to the negotiated UAW package, but CFO John Lawler did estimate an $850 to $900 added cost per unit in labor costs. It is unclear what either cost increase at GM or Ford will mean for sticker prices.
The UAW is referring to this movement as an "unprecedented effort to publicly organize the entire nonunion auto sector at once."
It marks a departure from past organizing efforts where the union went plant by plant. The union said this "new aggressive strategy is reflective of a new era of working-class leverage and workplace organizing."
