The strike has begun, DSA is in full solidarity mode, and even members in smaller chapters with no picketing nearby should take the Strike Ready Pledge. Duluth has no UAW plants, but we have heard that many of the auto mechanics at the dealers are members of the UAW. Stay tuned for actions, and meanwhile, take the pledge.

Thorn West: Issue No. 174

State Politics

• Thursday was the deadline to pass bills at the California state level, prompting a flurry of activity. CalMatters is tracking which bills have advanced to the governor to sign or veto. More below.

City Politics

• More on LA City Council expansion from LA Forward, which also maps some of the activist groups that have been pushing for reform. Both the Forward piece and this article in the LA Times note one elephant in the room: the latest report from the city’s Chief Legislative Analyst recommends delaying implementation until 2032, the first election after the next scheduled redistricting. The other key area of debate among sitting councilmembers is how many new seats to add, with Councilmember Nithya Raman pushing for doubling the size to 31 members, while others are calling for more limited expansion.

• DSA-LA membership is currently voting on three potential LA City Council endorsements, following a member forum last Sunday. If you are a member in good standing, you should have received an email ballot, and you may view the recording of that forum in the Member Portal.

Labor

• This week the Legislature advanced a number of bills that would benefit workers, all of which are now before Governor Newsom. AB 1228 slightly scales back the strength of a fast food workers council bill passed last year; but in exchange the fast food industry will withdraw a ballot measure that would fully overturn the worker’s council bill… SB 525 raises the minimum wage for tens of thousands of healthcare workers to $25 an hour, but prevents municipalities from raising it higher than that for ten years… AB 1 allows state legislative workers to collectively bargain; many similar bills have failed to advance out of the legislature… AB 799 allows workers who have been on strike for two weeks to claim unemployment benefits.

Housing Rights

• The state Legislature advanced two bills — SB 555, a study bill, and AB 309, a pilot program — that would take small steps to advance the cause of social housing in California. Both bills originated in the Legislature’s new “renter’s caucus,” but were significantly watered down from their original versions.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• SB 50, a bill introduced by Senator Steven Bradford that would combat racial profiling by prohibiting the police across the state from pulling over vehicles for pretextual stops —– a policy Los Angeles instituted last year — was pulled from consideration for this legislative year. Last year, a similar bill, also authored by Bradford, was also unable to overcome police opposition.

• Nearly 700 LAPD officers have joined in a harassment lawsuit against the city over the city’s compliance with a public records request last year. The release of records resulted in the publicly available headshots of every LAPD officer being made available in one searchable database — a measure intended to increase police accountability. (The plaintiffs are not “undercover officers” as the LA TImes repeatedly refers to them.)

Transportation

• SB 253, which will allow local governments to implement speed cameras, has advanced to the governor. Speed cameras have shown to be an effective deterrent against vehicle speeding where they have been tried. The bill was heavily qualified to accommodate opposition.

Environmental Justice

• SB 253, which would require business entities with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion to publicly disclose the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their operations, has advanced out of the legislature.

• Under AB 1572, now before the governor, ​​California businesses and institutions will have to stop irrigating decorative grassy areas with drinkable water.

• In April, a federal court ruled that Berkeley can’t ban gas in new construction. Now 25 California cities, including LA, have sent a letter to Governor Newsom saying he needs to step in to create a statewide zero-emission building standard.

The post Significant Labor + Climate Bills pass at Close of 2023 State Leg. Session appeared first on The Thorn West.

DSA stands in solidarity with the ​​150,000 UAW auto workers in their contract fight against the Big Three Detroit car makers — General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis. As of midnight, Ford Michigan Assembly Plant (Final Assembly and Paint) in Wayne, Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio and General Motors Wentzville Assembly in Missouri are on strike. Workers in other plants will continue working under the expired agreement, with no contract extensions. Future timing and locations of strike targets will be announced by the UAW based on progress at the negotiating table.

Their contract demands include an increase in wages and pensions, eliminating tiers, a 32-hour work week, a just transition to electric vehicles, with EV workers not relegated to second class, and the ability to strike over plant closures, among others.

Their demands are inspiring, but well within reach. The Big 3 companies are raking in record profits off the backs of their workers. These brave workers are striking today to take back power on the shop floor and win a better future, and we could not admire them more.

Over the past several weeks, DSA has prepared its members across the country to get strike ready to support the UAW auto workers. From electeds, to union workers, to DSA members in chapters large and small, we are ready to support our UAW siblings.

Today, we stand beside them on the picket lines, and we will continue to do so until they win the contract they deserve. The fight of the UAW auto workers is the fight of all of us. Solidarity forever!

The post DSA Stands With UAW Workers appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Situation for August showed that unemployment rates were on the rise. The rate for Hispanics climbed from 4.4% to 4.9%, for whites from 3.1% to 3.4%, and for persons with disabilities from 6.9% to 7.4%. The Black rate was a surprising outlier, falling from 5.8% to 5.3%.  The unemployment rate for the whole labor force increased from 3.5% to 3.8%, so it is rising but still under the 4% level that mainstream economists used to think was essentially full employment.

In the household survey from which we derive the figures just mentioned, the number of unemployed persons jumped by 514,000. That’s a lot, but the number of employed persons increased by 222,000. On the one hand this and on the other hand that. Why the surge of job-seekers–the unemployed–is not clear. Perhaps it is just a crazy one-month blip. Or perhaps more people had to look for work more diligently because they were running out of money. Some may have used up their cache of savings from pandemic benefit programs. 

If unemployment is on the rise, are we entering a recession? It is hard to tell. In a separate publication, the Department of Labor used Bureau of Labor Statistics to show that initial unemployment claims in recent months were roughly 20% higher than last fall. The number of people receiving benefits every week in regular state programs was about 25% above last year’s level. As far as unemployment benefits are concerned, we are on a higher plane than a year ago. But there has been no sustained increase in the number of beneficiaries recently, as we might expect if we were beginning a recession. 

The unemployment rate and many job numbers come from the monthly survey of 60,000 households. But the most watched job total is from a survey of several hundred thousand non-farm employers. It’s called the payroll or establishment survey. Here jobs increased, in the initial count, by 187,000. Not too hot. Not too cold. Modest growth ought to keep officials at the Federal Reserve from biting their collective nails about excessive and inflationary job growth. But will it? By the way, the final revised payroll job addition totals for June and July were 105,000 and 157,000, not signs of a hot job market. If those two months are the model, then the final revised job increase for August will be less than 187,000. 

These numbers and the current rise in the unemployment rate show that the Fed has no reason to raise interest rates in order to stymie wage and price growth. Job growth is okay but not booming. Employers have posted somewhat fewer vacancies and worker quit-rates are down a bit, suggesting that workers are a little less confident about finding new jobs. Kelly Evans of CNBC often suggests that we are in or will soon be in a recession, but I hope that the economy is just in a slight chill. A lot depends on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who seems obsessed with getting inflation down to 2.0%. The inflation index he prefers is now running at 2.4%. We are pretty much where he wants us to be, but he does not see it that way. He wants a weaker job market.

We Need More Jobs, Better Jobs, and Easier Retirement

Real full employment means many more jobs, and many more good jobs. The National Jobs for All Network’s Full Count shows that the real unemployment rate in August was 8.7%, not 3.8%. There are 15 million people who are unemployed or underemployed at part-time jobs because they cannot get full-time work. Whether or not the official unemployment rate goes up or down a little may suggest job market trends, but it does not tell us how far away we are from real full employment.

Nor about job quality. People who work hard shouldn’t have to worry about whether they can pay the rent or buy enough food for their families. And they ought to be able to retire some day. While the number of lucky people taking early retirement during the pandemic rose, many workers were and are too poor to retire.

But aren’t average wages pretty high? The average hourly wage for a production/non-supervisorial worker in the private sector is $29. That sounds pretty good. It’s $60,000 for a full year of work. But while that amount might be fine in eastern Kentucky, it’s not enough to pay the bills and accumulate savings in metropolitan areas, especially not in big ones like New York and Los Angeles. And there’s another disclaimer. That $29 is not the minimum wage. It’s an average. Millions of workers earn more and millions earn less, often much less. 

And by the way, gig work is not the answer. Drive for Uber? A couple of years ago, Ken Jacobs and Michael Reich, two researchers at the University of California’s Labor Center in Berkeley, determined that after unpaid waiting time, deductions for full payment of Medicare and Social Security taxes, and the cost of upkeep on the vehicle, Uber drivers were averaging about $6 an hour.

In the years prior to the pandemic, increasing numbers of people over 55 were re-entering or staying in the labor force. One reason was that they could not afford to retire. Many had worked at lousy jobs and had low savings. And it is still that way, especially for some groups. Half of the households headed by older Blacks and Hispanics are “financially fragile”; they are all but drowning in debt, housing costs, and lack of savings. These people are too poor to retire. 

Lousy jobs (and other reasons for higher poverty rates in these groups) have dire long-term consequences. More people will be working into their late 60s and 70s. Most of the people who won’t be able to retire are not professors orating in air-conditioned classrooms. Some have strenuous jobs working outside in very hot or very cold weather, or inside, cleaning 15 rooms a day in an up-scale hotel in Los Angeles, or lugging sick people around in a nursing home, or doing the dishes in the hot, crowded kitchen of an expensive restaurant. 

Some people are quitting to find better jobs. But in dozens of occupations and workplaces people are protesting, unionizing, and striking. This surge of working-class militancy is a hugely encouraging sign. 

Some useful non-governmental sources:

Teresa Ghilarducci and Christopher D. Cook, No Way Out: Older Workers Are Increasingly Trapped in Crummy Jobs and Unable to Retire.  Posted on April 28, 2023, Working Economics Blog, Economic Policy Institute.

Michael Hiltzik, “Shoplifting? Employer Wage Theft is a Bigger Deal,” Los Angeles Times, August 30, 2023.

Steve Lopez, “Retire? Senior Hotel Workers Can’t Afford To,” Los Angeles Times, July 16, 2023.

Robert Kuttner, “The Economy: Steady as She Goes,” September 1, 2023, “Today on TAP” (The American Prospect online).

The post Are We Entering a Recession or Not? The Unemployment Report for August 2023 appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

by Carlee A. Baker

While it hardly feels like the end of the summer season in perpetually sunny Austin, Labor Day has come and gone. In celebration of the holiday and the workers that make it happen, Austin DSA hosted a kickback fundraiser featuring live music by four working class acts: Typical Girls, Landline, Good Looks, and Croy and the Boys. Comrades joined together Saturday, September 2 at Sagebrush to rest, recharge, join together, and celebrate labor. It was an evening of bumping tunes, socialist socializing, and recognition of labor power. Amongst our listening to such socialist croonings as “It Seems Like You Can’t Just Be Poor Anymore” and “Keep It Light” there exists a moment for reflection on how exactly we wound up with such a holiday. 

Keeping the history of the Labor Day holiday at the forefront of the mind can be a challenge, between the bombardment of advertisements promising slashed price, invitations to barbeques and pool parties (or kickbacks!). Not to mention that the history of the holiday is largely suppressed: the Wikipedia page for the U.S. holiday doesn’t mention the pivotal role of Eugene Debs, prominent socialist activist, and has only a brief mention of the Pullman strikes and May Day – now known as International Workers Day.

A celebration demands an understanding of what exactly we’re celebrating and how we got to where we are. The history of Labor Day in the U.S. is contentious and complicated, which is all the more reason for a closer look. 

Labor Day was created and officially recognized by the federal government under the Cleveland administration in 1894. The decision to establish a federal holiday celebrating American labor came on the heels of  violent state suppression of the Pullman Strike, organized by the American Railway Union with the help of Eugene Debs, a key founder of the ARU and one of the most well-known American socialists in history.

Workers in the company town of Pullman, Illinois just outside of Chicago, felt significant economic pain following the Panic of 1893 (sound familiar?). The Pullman Company, a train car manufacturer, slashed wages and laid off workers but didn’t reduce workers’ rent. Following this decision, accompanied by general discontent from 16-hour workdays and poor living conditions, Pullman Company employees voted to strike in May 1894. 

In solidarity with the Pullman Company employees, and given that many of them were represented by the ARU, the union voted to issue a boycott effective June 26, 1894 if concessions weren’t made by the company and they refused to submit the wage disputes to arbitration. When this deadline passed, the boycott was launched and ARU members refused to work with any Pullman train cars or any trains with Pullman cars hitched to them. By June 30th, 125,000 workers were on strike across 29 railroads. 

In the midst of the boycott, trains coupled to Pullman cars were not handled or managed. One such train belonged to the U.S. Postal Service. With tensions running high after scabs were hired to replace workers, Debs spoke at a rally in support of the strikes. That rally led to protests and demonstrations, resulting in arson and train derailments. 

At that point, President Cleveland stepped in and issued an injunction against the strike on the grounds that U.S. mail, carried in Pullman cars, was being obstructed. The Army was sent to Illinois to break the strike and arrest Debs. In total, the suppression of the strike in Chicago killed 13 workers.

Following his decision to violently suppress the strike, Cleveland was desperate to find a method by which to diffuse some of the anger of the working class. Six days after the violent end of the strike, Congress passed a resolution to recognize the first Monday of September as Labor Day. 

This decision was a calculated political move to deny legitimacy to May Day, now known broadly as International Workers Day. May Day is a commemoration of the 1884 Haymarket Massacre, which began as a socialist and anarchist demonstration in support of the 8-hour workday but ended in needless death. Cleveland’s decision to recognize a September Labor Day holiday was a deliberate move to avoid the recognition and legitimization of May Day and its underlying socialist sympathies.

Labor history in the U.S. is complex and largely suppressed, unless you know where to look. The rising interest in unions and increasing energy dedicated to organizing, especially among young people, necessitates a stark look back at those who came before us and paved the way to the ground upon which we stand, organize, and dream. Labor Day and International Workers Day both provide ample opportunity for reflection, gratitude, and solidarity. Ideally done while holding a beer and listening to some local tunes.

The post Kicking Back on Labor Day with a Little History first appeared on Red Fault.

by Micah Johnson

The following article represents the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Detroit Socialist Editorial and Writers’ Collective or Detroit DSA as a whole.

Comrades, our national convention voted overwhelmingly in support of the resolution “Act Like an Independent Party.” The obligation to act like an independent party took effect immediately, and it is up to us now to take concrete steps towards making that ideal a reality. Parties have standards. They have a code of conduct. A socialist party is no different, and any true socialist party has an obligation to serve the working class. Shri Thanedar, congressional representative of most of Wayne county, and many in this room, including myself, has not only failed in this, but has stood in flagrant opposition to our goals and principles, and openly stood in support of our class enemies.

On June 22nd of this year, Representative Shri Thanedar personally escorted the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi to the Capitol to give an address before Congress. The point of this address was to affirm solidarity between the US and India in the face of heightening tensions with Russia and China. Now, if this were all you knew of the affair, I would understand skepticism towards these expulsion proceedings.

Two days before on June 20th, Rashida Tlaib tweeted this out, “It’s shameful that Modi has been given a platform at our nation’s Capital — his long history of human rights abuses, anti-democratic actions, targeting Muslims & religious minorities, and censoring journalists is unacceptable. I will be boycotting Modi’s joint address to Congress.” Ilhan Omar of Minnesota likewise boycotted the address. But why? What is so bad about PM Modi?

Modi is an open Hindu nationalist, and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, a Hindu nationalist party. As is typical with nationalists, he has a preferred minority to cast his ire on: Muslims. During his tenure as Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat, in 2002, he oversaw a violent crackdown on mostly Muslim protestors. Roughly 2000 people were killed. His prime ministership, while not as overtly violent, has been no less systematically oppressive. He has overseen repression in Muslims’ rights to express themselves, to practice their religion freely, and to live as co-equal citizens with the Hindu majority. In 2005, he was denied entry into the US under an obscure ruling from the Commission on International Religious Freedom, on the grounds of his handling of the 2002 massacre. Imagine that! The US Government, in 2005, said that this guy is too extreme of an Islamophobe!

When asked by India Today about his then upcoming meeting with Modi, Thanedar said “It is a great honor.” He was proud to be associated with such a man. And this, when he is the national representative for the city of Hamtramck, a city which is notable for having one of, if not the, highest proportions of Muslim residents in the US; a majority, even, by some estimates.

Thanedar’s meeting with and open support of Modi is entirely indefensible. There was no crisis, no disaster should he refuse. This was pure and simple careerism, to associate himself with a major world leader. In doing so, he has associated us with that leader. In lending his support to Modi, we, implicitly, have done so as well. Now we have a chance, not to right that wrong, but to correct it. Comrades, vote to expel Shri Thanedar, and show that Metro Detroit DSA holds its electeds to the highest standards.

The Detroit Socialist is produced and run by members of Detroit DSA’s Newspaper Collective. Interested in becoming a member of Detroit DSA? Go to metrodetroitdsa.com/join to become a member. Send a copy of the dues receipt to: membership@metrodetroitdsa.com in order to get plugged in to our activities!

Viewpoint: Vote To Expel Shri Thanedar From Metro Detroit DSA was originally published in The Detroit Socialist on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

By E. Steele

The following article represents the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Detroit Socialist Editorial and Writers’ Collective or Detroit DSA as a whole.

Is a strike always the best outcome in a contract campaign? Socialists are often torn between their desire for heightened class conflict and their goal of protecting workers. Surprisingly, the answer to this question is not at all controversial among many auto workers at the Big 3.

Conventional wisdom tells us that workers would rather not strike if they can avoid it. This is why popular books such as Jane McAlevy’s “No Shortcuts” and Labor Notes’ “Secrets of a Successful Organizer” both encourage starting small and building to escalating campaigns of bigger and riskier actions. However, this attitude is not present at Sterling Stamping among the members of UAW Local 1264 who work there.

Over the past month, the strike is all anyone talks about. It’s been decades since Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) faced a major strike, so even those with high seniority are excited about their first opportunity to go out. The majority opinion is clear: “We are going to strike, and we are going to win.” Workers count down the days until contract expiration, and anyone who complains about being scheduled for 14 or 21 days straight is reassured with a grin: “Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of time off soon.”

This attitude might seem ideal to a socialist or a militant unionist. Workers understand their leverage in the economy, and are ready to fight together and win! However, it is not without its pitfalls.

Most are so confident in their power that they lack much interest in a contract campaign. To be sure, the new UAW leaders are swimming upstream; the UAW has never attempted a contract campaign before at the Big 3. And leaders have had success getting workers strike ready, as their open lines of communication and publication of demands have led to broad buyin, excitement, and discussion. Still, even those who are most excited to strike will forget to wear a red shirt on Wednesday, or balk at the idea of a rally or practice picket: “Why should I spend my energy on all of that? We are just going to win it with the strike!”

Similarly, everyone is convinced that come 11:59 pm on the 14th, we WILL be going on strike. At the time of writing, the UAW’s strategy for the strike is a closely guarded secret. Possible approaches include everything from bottleneck strikes targeting a relatively small number of strategic plants, all the way up to striking every plant at all three employers. Local 1264’s participation from day one is far from guaranteed, but you wouldn’t know it from the buzz on the shop floor.

For an energetic organizer, the potential of being in the factory after contract expiration is exciting. Unfettered by contract language against slowdowns or marches on the boss, there are huge opportunities for rank and file militancy. Unfortunately, the certainty regarding the strike makes many uninterested in these ideas.

There is also the additional risk of expectations. If midnight comes and goes and we are all still at work, many may feel let down, and may lose interest in collective action, or trust in the new leadership.

Despite these problems, socialists should be excited about the developments in the UAW. When workers are conscious of their position within the economy and their inherent antagonisms with the boss, good things happen. It will take time to build a culture of rank-and-file activity, but already there have been steps forward. A decisive strike can build on these successes and create further appetite for militancy, both among workers in auto and in other sectors of the economy.

[E. Steele is the pen name of a Detroit-area auto worker.]

Check out other articles in The Detroit Socialist’s Building Labor Power series here.

The Detroit Socialist is produced and run by members of Detroit DSA’s Newspaper Collective. Interested in becoming a member of Detroit DSA? Go to metrodetroitdsa.com/join to become a member. Send a copy of the dues receipt to: membership@metrodetroitdsa.com in order to get plugged in to our activities!

Viewpoint: Potential UAW Strike Introduces Some Challenges was originally published in The Detroit Socialist on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Democratic Socialists of America International Committee (DSA IC) extends its warm congratulations to the Citizen’s Revolution party in Ecuador for its notable achievements in the August 20th snap general elections. We also recognize the decisive vote in favor of Indigenous-led national referenda against carbon extraction.

The elections occurred after the assassinations of Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicensio, alongside other political figures. These deaths have drawn international attention to the unprecedented spike in murder and violent crime occurring within Ecuador. Despite a declared state of emergency and the presence of the military on the streets, the People of Ecuador were steadfast and backed Citizen’s Revolution Candidate Luisa Gonzalez who received 33% of the vote. Citizen’s Revolution also secured a plurality in the upcoming National Assembly, increasing its representation.  

Citizen’s Revolution has been at the forefront of the opposition to neoliberal and austerity policies put into effect since 2017. They led the effort within the National Assembly to impeach and remove right-wing President Guillermo Lasso who championed these initiatives. As a result of Citizen’s Revolution’s work, Lasso called for snap general elections that would end his presidency a year and a half early. 

Gonzalez will oppose Daniel Noboa, a scion of one of Ecuador’s most affluent families, in the Presidential runoff scheduled for October 15th. Gonzalez has pledged to restore government funding of social programs for the people while Noboa will prioritize continued government austerity measures and promote the interests of foreign investors. 

The DSA International Committee also acknowledges the Ecuadorian people’s historic vote to cease oil extraction within the Yasuni National Park and to halt mining projects within the Metropolitan District of Quito. The results of these referenda underscore the significant success Indigenous and environmental activists have had opposing both oil extraction and mining activities. The majority that voted to keep the oil in the ground in Yasuni did so despite the knowledge that it would require considerable economic sacrifice.  Twelve percent of Ecuador’s oil currently comes from Yasuni.  The DSA IC calls on the U.S. government to provide climate reparations to Ecuador, and to all poorer countries, to encourage their decisions to transition away from fossil fuel industries.

The DSA International Committee stands in unwavering solidarity with Gonzalez’s campaign to unify the diverse range of social forces opposed to neoliberal austerity, and rally them to her candidacy and the Ecuadorian people’s continued resistance to environmental exploitation. May their collective resilience be an example for all activists around the world.

The post DSA Congratulates Citizens Revolution Party in Ecuador appeared first on DSA International Committee.

By Chris Viola

In its negotiations with the Big Three Automakers, the United Auto Workers wants to eliminate the lower-tier status hurting many electric vehicle workers. A rank-and-file autoworker explains why the fight is central to a just green transition.

Chris Viola is an auto worker and member of UAW Local 22, Unite All Workers for Democracy, and Metro Detroit Democratic Socialists of America.

Negotiations between my union, the United Auto Workers (UAW), and the Big Three automakers (Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis) are now underway. UAW president Shawn Fain has already made headlines by demanding a 40 percent raise (much like our CEOs have received), proposing reductions to workweeks that have ballooned to eighty-four hours for some, and tossing Stellantis’s insulting counteroffer into the trash on a livestream video.

Eliminating tiers is the highest priority for many workers. What this means in practice is a bit complicated, especially on the electric vehicle (EV) front. Some EV construction now happens under joint-venture projects like Ultium (General Motors and LG), but tiers under preexisting UAW contracts are already fulfilling much of our EV work. With potentially dozens of battery plants being planned and built in the United States alone, however, that may be changing.

One thing is clear: the elimination of joint-venture battery tiers as well as all other tiers is necessary for a just transition to green manufacturing and infrastructure. Fighting climate change must not come at the expense of workers’ livelihoods — we all deserve the same rights, benefits, and pay won at the bargaining table.

A Labyrinth of Tiers

Tiers are endemic to EV construction across the Big Three. These tiers mean that many workers involved in EV manufacturing suffer from worse pay and benefits and less job security than their counterparts making conventional automobiles.

Of the Big Three, General Motors seems to have the most dizzying array of legal entities covered under our collective bargaining agreements. I’ve heard that EV drive units and batteries are currently made by workers employed by Ford and not some other entity, but I’m willing to bet that Ford’s joint EV venture with SK Innovations, BlueOval SK, would prefer its own contract with UAW similar to Ultium’s. Ditto for StarPlus Energy, Stellantis’s joint venture with Samsung SDI.

General Motors Component Holdings (GMCH) is one such entity where workers are making products for EVs. GMCH Rochester Operations in Rochester, New York, currently builds EV battery cooling lines. GMCH Lockport Operations in Lockport, New York, builds stators for EVs. The remaining GMCH locations do not build components specifically for EVs, but some of what they make are components in all vehicles, and more could be made at all of these plants in the future.

GMCH workers’ starting rate as of the 2019 contract was $16.25 and would max out at $22.50 after a minimum of eight years. I say a “minimum of eight years,” because for purposes of these wage increases, each year actually requires fifty-two “weeks worked.” Many workers experience at least a few months of time being laid off in the span of eight years, which would not count toward this time worked.

Eight years is a long time, especially when you consider that our contracts have a duration of only four years. In the 2015 contract, pay at date of hire remained at $16.25, and only surpassed the old maximum rate of $19.86 after four years of seniority. After a forty-day strike of General Motors in 2019, workers at GMCH locations gained only $2.64 after eight years of seniority had been reached — reaching just under 70 percent of maximum pay for assembly workers. When the 2019 collective bargaining agreement was ratified, it was no surprise that workers at GMCH overwhelmingly rejected it.

The eight-year wage progression is not an outlier among tiers within the UAW–Big Three contracts. Another entity under the master agreement, General Motors Customer Care and Aftersales (GM CCA), has an eight-year progression for workers starting at $17.00 an hour and ending at $31.57 an hour. That is, unless you were hired on or after November 16, 2015: those CCA workers start at $17.00 and top out at just $25.00. CCAs like this one are parts distribution centers that deliver parts for all types of vehicles to dealerships and other repair shops all over North America, and they will be just as important to EVs as they have been for internal combustion engine vehicles.

That brings us to GM Subsystems, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors formed in 2009 as part of the restructuring after the federal bailout. My first experience with GM Subsystems was in 2014. Dozens of General Motors temporary workers, many with over two years on the job, received a pay cut and were then classified as GM Subsystems workers. Material movement work, including my own job of sequencing side rearview mirrors, was brought under Subsystems when the local reached a deal with the company upon millions being invested in three new large warehouses to be constructed at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly where I worked. This is when I learned that concessions don’t even have to wait for when times are lean to rear their ugly head.

In 2016 my plant had absorbed hundreds of workers in preparation for adding a second shift. Most came from Orion Assembly, which had entered retooling for the release of the Chevrolet Bolt. A majority of workers would rather stay at their home plant and would eventually return when they had work for them, but it’s fortunate when a plant within thirty-three miles is able to pick up some nearby laid-off workers. Sometimes that plant is hundreds of miles away, and there is no choice but to move for work, wait it out, or separate from the company entirely.

One of the workers who joined my team then, I learned, was from Brownstown Battery Assembly and had moved over for better pay. While Brownstown was critical to the Volt, the Bolt, and Bolt EUV, the workers there were considered GM Subsystems employees and started at a much lower pay rate, beginning at $15 and ending at $17 after four years.

The Big Three provide workers a profit-sharing benefit, in which autoworkers receive a contribution based on an agreed-upon formula; ours is based on the total North American profits from the previous year. The roughly fifty thousand General Motors workers receive $1 for every million dollars the company makes, rounded down to the nearest $250 — unless they work for GM Subsystems, in which case they only receive $0.25 per million.

Further, profit sharing is based on hours worked. To get the full amount, one must work 1,850 hours over the course of the year, a normal amount unless that worker has been laid off. Depending on the company, workers may not receive more should they work more than 1,850 hours that year. And if you’re a temp, I’m sorry that you’re even hearing about profit sharing, because you’re not getting a dime.

I can say one nice thing about Subsystems’ recent contract: it expires at the same time as the contract for other General Motors workers. So workers across General Motors and Subsystems will be able to stand in solidarity during contract negotiations and possibly a strike, unlike in 2019.

The different tiers of retirement benefits are also labyrinthine. General Motors workers hired after October 15, 2007, do not enjoy a pension or health care in retirement like previous generations did, and they’re instead forced to rely on various schemes of 401(k) and HSA matches and contributions. Even the benefits are uneven between different tiers, with lower-tier workers receiving less generous 401(k) and HSA contributions from the employer.

The Destructive Effect of Tiers

The byzantine tier system also makes it more difficult for autoworkers to find convenient jobs, and it creates inequalities in workplace rights that undermine union solidarity.

Before the Detroit-Hamtramck factory would close in 2020 to be reborn as Factory Zero, there were only a few nearby options for me to transfer to. I was able to put in paperwork to transfer to Flint but not to the much-closer Orion Assembly plant, due to a weird rule there that capped the percentage of tier-one workers. I was offered a job at Lansing, roughly eight-five miles away, but I ended up turning it down due to the distance.

The offer was rescinded anyway due to COVID-19, which provided a job only six miles away from home at Warren Transmission. That plant was shut down in 2019 but was reopened by General Motors for COVID supply manufacturing. I was making masks during the early months of the pandemic, but I was let go in early October for having turned down a job 180 miles away at Fort Wayne Assembly. I apparently was no longer in the correct tier to continue to make masks a short distance from where I live.

I returned home to Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in July 2021, but many things had changed. For example, just about every material job was now under GM Subsystems, which disappointed General Motors workers who had previously worked those jobs and were now ineligible due to deals we had made during contract negotiations in 2019 to keep work in my plant. All battery assembly fell under GM Subsystems as well, so even if someone wanted to, they could not transfer to jobs in that department.

I want to be clear: I don’t fault anyone for taking Subsystems jobs. That was what our union agreed to, and we’re living with the consequences of accepting lower-tier jobs with severely diminished wages and rights. Those workers not only deserve a living wage but also the respect that comes from having rights on the job.

Those rights are more easily upheld when union members who know their rights fight for those who don’t. I got a crash course in this lesson when I was first hired as a temp in 2006. After hundreds of workers retired following buyouts, CCA Pontiac brought in temps. When temps would get picked on by management, rank-and-file workers with the benefit of seniority kept an eye out and would raise hell — showing what having rights in the workplace looked like.

Unfortunately, workers in battery assembly have lower seniority, and because they’re in a separate part of the building they don’t have nearly enough rank-and-file members looking out for them. Because assembly workers cannot transfer over, there’s a very real “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” effect. On top of that, they have very little in the way of representation. Until recently they’ve had to make do with one steward for their whole unit — a steward who only had thirty hours a week to educate and defend their bargaining unit, the remainder of the time working a job. By comparison, the General Motors workers in the rest of the assembly plant have had a minimum of two full-time stewards since the first large batch of workers returned in July 2021.

In July 2022, contract negotiations ran up until the eleventh hour. The final morning, we were told by our steward that we would have to cross the picket line to leave and return or risk losing our jobs. This was the case for Subsystems workers during the 2019 strike, which caused some tension on the picket lines. It’s a clear example of how tiers erode solidarity and fracture workers’ unity.

With the 2022 contract, pay was raised to a maximum of $22 for materials workers and $24 for battery assemblers, although temporary workers still max at $17 after four or more years. That’s right: we have in writing that workers can be considered temporary for well over four years.

Tiers Must Go

Since the day I was formally hired by GM in 2007, tiers have only gotten more complex and further embedded into our contracts. There was a time when getting your foot in the door in an auto plant meant that you could breathe a sigh of relief. Yes, it takes a while to get used to standing on your feet for most of the day, but barring (sadly common) workplace injuries, your body does eventually get used to the work. But now we have unprecedented amounts of turnover. People hang on in the hope that things might one day get better.

Hopefully, that day is now, with a UAW leadership committed to getting rid of tiers. Eliminating tiers would reduce the number of hours workers have to spend on the job. It would also reduce the years required for workers to retire, and the unnecessary hours workers spend every day driving past workplaces where they would otherwise be able to work.

EVs are an important part of the fight against climate change, and the government is now giving automakers massive amounts of money to build new EV plants. We can’t allow tiers to stay and proliferate in this sector; they are a barrier to a just transition. We should file them in the trash right alongside Stellantis’s initial contract proposal.

[Reprinted from Jacobin.]

Check out other articles in The Detroit Socialist’s Building Labor Power series here.

The Detroit Socialist is produced and run by members of Detroit DSA’s Newspaper Collective. Interested in becoming a member of Detroit DSA? Go to metrodetroitdsa.com/join to become a member. Send a copy of the dues receipt to: membership@metrodetroitdsa.com in order to get plugged in to our activities!

In UAW’s Negotiations With the Big Three Automakers, Ending Tiers Is a Central Demand was originally published in The Detroit Socialist on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We at The Pika Press are very happy to bring you comprehensive coverage of the 2023 DSA National Convention! Our coverage includes articles, report-backs, and statistics features!

Articles

The Struggle for an Anti-Zionist DSA Continues by Omar — a pointed critique of DSA’s zionist history and the votes of the convention.

Convention from the Staffer’s View by Hayley Banyai-Becker — a reflection on what post-convention DSA looks like from the unique position of a DSA staff organizer.

What is the NPC? by Joe Mayall — a straight-forward explanation of what DSA’s National Political Committee is and what it does.

DSA Doesn’t Know What It Wants by Caoimhín Perkins — a polemic on certain comrade’s aversion to a party-like strategy.

Delegate Report-Backs

Brief summaries of Denver DSA delegates’ experiences and thoughts on convention. Contributing comrades: Alejandra Beatty, Ahmed, Colleen Johnston, Andrew Thompson, Jennifer Dillon, Matthew Rambles, Max Soo, Mitch, Skye O’Toole, and Stephanie Caulk.

Statistical features

Pika’s Index — a list of statistics about convention with plenty of lines to be read in-between.

Colorado DSA Votes @ DSACon2023 — a spreadsheet showing all the votes (resolutions and NPC) taken by delegates from all four of Colorado’s DSA chapters at the 2023 National Convention.

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