The United Auto Workers (UAW) has been pouring on the heat on General Motors as well as Ford and Stellantis as contract negotiations between the labor union and the Big Three will soon begin. Now, in another jab at GM, the UAW has released a new video criticizing The General’s Kokomo, Indiana plant operations.
In a video posted online, UAW President Shawn Fain and UAW Vice President Mike Booth spoke with workers about the state of the affairs at the largely dormant Kokomo plant. Notably, many of the workers were dissatisfied over the way in which GM handles the plant, which used to serve as a semiconductor manufacturing facility.
Of course, the Detroit-based automaker has largely outsourced these vital electronics overseas, meaning that the Kokomo plant doesn’t receive much love from GM.
“We made semiconductors here from the 1950s forward,” UAW President Fain was quoted as saying. “And it’s a shame to think that GM chose to close the fabricator plant where we make semiconductors in late 2017, and you know what the rest of that story has been. This is just another example in a long line of failings of GM and the Big Three companies and how little they care for the workers and the communities we live in. These workers want to be here. They’re proud of these jobs. Some of these people have been here twenty-five years, and they’re standing here hanging in the balance now, waiting to see what’s left for them in the future.”
As previously mentioned, the current contracts between the UAW and the Big Three are set to expire in September 2023. With an emphasis on the need for increased benefits and wages, the labor union has been striking an aggressive tone as negotiations begin.
In fact, recent comments from UAW Vice President Booth indicate that the dialogue has the potential to be hotly debated as the labor union points to high profits and executive compensations as justification for increased demands.
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