UAW president reveals 'the members' demands' for Detroit Three talks

A 32-hour work week, the ability to strike when a plant closes and paid volunteer work in the event of a closure were among the negotiating priorities emphasized by United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain on Tuesday during a Facebook livestream.

The requests are "the members' demands" to the Detroit Three, he says. Making public to UAW members those demands being brought this week to General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV is another example of the administration's break from tradition in pursuit of greater involvement by the rank-and-file and more transparency following a years-long corruption scandal. Previously, Fain said, priorities were brought forward privately with the companies and dubbed "the president's demands" or "the economic demands."

"More often than not, they would be presented to the company by the president behind closed doors," Fain said during the livestream. "Your elected national negotiators would be cut out of the conversation and cut out of the process. That was my experience as a national negotiator twice. I was incredibly frustrated to spend weeks bargaining with the company and subcommittees just to have the president's office come in later and cut a backroom deal without us.

"So, those days are gone, and gone with those days is the false belief that union contracts are solely won by the president. They're not. They're won by the members. They are won by all of us, organizing together around the issues that unite us and collectively demanding what we are owed."

The list of 10 demands reiterated much of what officials have been saying for months leading up to the talks that kicked off last month ahead of the contracts expiring Sept. 14: eliminate tiers on wages and benefits, restore the cost-of-living allowance and pensions and retiree medical benefits for all workers.

Fain emphasized negotiators would call for "double-digit" pay raises in light of the Detroit Three CEOs' total compensation growing 40% over the past four years. He said all temporary workers should be rolled over to full-time, and their use limited in the future.

Fain slammed the automakers for the increased and record profits posted in the first half of 2023 on top of the nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars they've made over the previous decade. The companies have emphasized their need for capital to invest the billions of dollars needed for their electrified future. They also do provide tens of thousands in profit-sharing bonuses to full-time employees, though not temporary or supplemental workers, on an annual basis. This spring alone, those bonuses were $14,760 at Stellantis, $12,750 at GM and $9,176 at Ford.

"The big question everyone's going to ask is: 'How much is this going to cost?" Fain said. "But if this awful pandemic told us anything it's that there's more to life than just work. It's not enough to just survive. We should all have a right to thrive."

To that end, Fain said the union would fight for more paid time off. While responding to questions from the online chat, he even said he would seek a shorter work week of 32 hours instead of 40.

"Our members are working 60, 70, even 80 hours a week just to make ends meet — that's not a living," he said. "That's barely surviving, and it needs to stop."

Additionally, the demands include the right to strike over plant closures. Fain also proposed a Working Family Protection Program, which would require the companies to pay UAW members for volunteer work if the automaker closes the plant in their community.

"The Big Three have closed 65 plants over the last 20 years," Faith said. "That's been as devastating for our own towns, as it has been for us. We have the right to defend our communities from the corporate greed that's killing so many cities and towns."

Stellantis in February indefinitely idled the Jeep Cherokee plant in Belvidere, Illinois. Fain said Vice President Rich Boyer and other leaders in the Stellantis Department are "standing strong in that fight."

The union introduced the demands on Tuesday to Stellantis, and they will be presented to GM and Ford later this week, Fain said. Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson in a statement described the meeting as "very productive" with the demands being consistent with priorities previously outlined.

"We will continue to review them to understand how they align with our Company proposals and where we can find common ground," Tinson said. "Stellantis and the UAW have a shared interest in these negotiations: securing the future of our 43,000 employees and their families. We have been clear from the start that we are not seeking a concessionary agreement. As we have done for more than 70 years, we will work constructively and collaboratively with the UAW to find solutions that will result in a contract that is competitive in the global market, responsibly addresses employee concerns and meets the needs of our customers."

bnoble@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @BreanaCNoble