DETROIT – United Auto Workers President Sean Fein wants to take the fight against Detroit automakers to Tesla, Toyota Motor, and other non-union American manufacturers.
The vocal leader intends to use the record contracts recently won during difficult negotiations and labor strikes with the parents of General Motors, Ford Motor, and Chrysler in the United States, Stellenbosch, and the union’s struggle abroad. Support organizational efforts.
The UAW has tried to unionize foreign-owned automakers in the United States in the past. Recently, facilities owned by Nissan Motor and Volkswagen have not been given the necessary support for unionization. The UAW has previously talked about organizing Tesla’s California Fremont facility, but its efforts have largely been unsuccessful.
The impact of the recent developments on other manufacturers remains uncertain. Finn has assured that by the conclusion of its four-and-a-half-year agreement with the Detroit automaker in April 2028, the group referred to as the “Big Five” will have potentially grown to encompass either the “Big Six” or include entities beyond the traditional “Big Three” (Ford, GM, and Stellantis).
The agreements include increased profit sharing and other major pay, health care, and workplace benefits. Cost-of-living adjustments are being reinstated; and a 25% wage increase would push the top salary above $40 an hour. Agreements are yet to be ratified.
“Toyota is not growing out of the goodness of their hearts,” asserts Fan. A month or a year ago, they would have easily increased their salary. Because the firm knew we were coming for them, they acted quickly.
49,000 hourly and salaried Toyota employees work in the United States, and the company said “our team members ultimately decide to unionize.”
In an emailed statement Friday, the business said, “Our goal is to foster positive morale that ultimately increases productivity by engaging in honest, two-way communication about what’s going on in the company. ” “Our team members have a history of consistent employment and income thanks to working closely together.”
The UAW represented workers at Tesla’s Fremont, Calif., facility when it was a joint venture between GM and Toyota, but could not muster enough support to force an organized vote there.
On Thursday, Fein told Bloomberg News that he thinks it would be “viable” to manage Tesla and take on CEO Elon Musk.
We can beat anybody, Fein told Bloomberg. “It will ultimately be up to his employees to decide whether they want their fair compensation or whether they want him to take on debt to travel into space himself.”
However, Musk and union supporters have a history of disagreements.
Because of the tentative agreements, the union has already attracted a lot of attention from non-union automakers, according to Fain. Additionally, they ignored remarks by Ford Chairman Bill Ford last month, which said unions and corporations must cooperate in the fight against foreign manufacturers.
“Employees at Tesla, Toyota, Honda, and other companies are not the enemy; rather, they are the UAW members of the future,” Fein said.
Toyota-
The fan has recently targeted Toyota in particular. Earlier this week, the automotive manufacturer disclosed its intentions to increase wages at its United States-based facilities. Based on the updated data, it is projected that manufacturing workers in Kentucky would observe a substantial increase of almost 9% in their hourly wages. Consequently, this would lead to an hourly wage of $34.80, positioning it as the highest remuneration rate within the state.
A fan humorously suggested that the acronym UAW may stand for “U Are Welcome” to join the union movement, and playfully referred to the pay hike announced on Thursday as a “UAW bump.”
Tesla
The UAW used to represent workers at Tesla’s Fremont, California, facility when it was a joint venture between GM and Toyota, but it hasn’t been able to get enough support to force an organizing vote there.
On Thursday, Fain told Bloomberg News that he thought it would be “doable” to organize Tesla and take on CEO Elon Musk.
We can defeat anyone, Fain asserted to Bloomberg. “It will ultimately be up to his employees to decide whether they want their just compensation or whether they want him to take out a loan to travel to space on their own.”
However, Musk and supporters of unions have a history of disagreement.
In 2017 and 2018, when some employees at the company’s Fremont facility attempted to organize a union, Tesla paid a consultancy called MWW PR to keep an eye on workers in a Facebook group and on social media in general.
Additionally, Richard Ortiz, a union activist, was fired by Tesla in 2017. In a tweet from 2018, Musk stated, “There is nothing preventing the Tesla team at our auto plant from voting union.” if they so desired tomorrow. However, why forgo stock options and pay union dues?
The National Labor Relations Board eventually determined that the tweet was in violation of federal labor regulations.
After determining that Musk’s tweet had endangered workers’ compensation, an administrative court ordered Tesla to reinstate Ortiz and remove the offending post. Tesla filed an appeal of the decision, and Musk’s offensive message is still up on the social media site he now owns, has rebranded as X, and is running for executive chairman and chief technology officer.
A different set of organizers claimed in a February complaint filed with the NLRB that Tesla had fired over thirty workers at its Buffalo location as punishment for Tesla Workers United’s union push. Tesla denied the claims made by the employees, claiming that performance problems had led to the termination of 4% of their Autopilot data labeling team in Buffalo.
In September, Tesla was sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal organization tasked with upholding rules against workplace discrimination. The commission said that Black employees were subjected to widespread racist harassment at Tesla and that those who voiced their concerns were met with reprisals.
Additionally, a little over 100 members of the industrial labor organization IF Metall who work for Tesla in Sweden went on a brief strike in late October. In a show of solidarity, hundreds of auto mechanics and technicians at non-Tesla dealerships decided not to fix any of the EV manufacturers’ vehicles. But Tesla has declined to speak with IF Metall thus far.
Tesla did not quickly respond with a response to a request for comment.