The United Auto Workers labor union, otherwise known as the UAW, has filed an unfair labor practice charge against General Motors amid stalled contract negotiations. GM has refuted the charge and maintains that it is still negotiating in good faith. The current labor contract is set to expire September 14th.
Just yesterday, UAW President Shawn Fain provided an update on contract negotiations between union representatives and leadership at the Big Three Detroit automakers, including GM. Fain stated that little progress had been made thus, accusing automakers of using delay tactics as the September deadline looms.
“I told [the Big Three CEOs] that if they expected to drag everything out until the final days of bargaining and then try to settle everything all at once, then they were setting themselves up for a strike,” Fain said.
Fain went on to state that GM and Stellantis had “failed to give us any economic counters,” saying that the automakers’ “willful refusal to bargain in good faith is not only insulting and counter-productive, it’s also illegal.”
“Unfortunately, many employers across the country are willing to break the law and incur the meager fines and penalties that result as just the cost of union busting,” Fain said.
GM Executive Vice President, Global Manufacturing, Gerald Johnson responded to the charge with a statement published to a GM website dedicated to providing details on the latest UAW negotiations, saying that GM leadership was “surprised” by the charge and that it had “no merit and is an insult to the bargaining committees.”
“We have been hyper-focused on negotiating directly and in good fair with the UAW and are making progress,” Johnson states. “The pace of negotiations is based on how quickly both parties resolve nearly 1,000 UAW demands, including more than 90 presented this week.”
UAW members voted to authorize a possible strike last week. UAW President Fain acknowledges that the union’s demand are “ambitious,” justifying the demands based on automaker profits.
“You can’t make a quarter trillion dollars in North American profits over the last decade and expect us to keep aiming low and settling lower,” Fain said. “Our campaign slogan is simple: record profits mean record contracts.”
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