For the first time in the history of the United States, a president participated in a strike picket, a symbol that explains the importance of strikes after which the survival of the North American middle class and the defense of the lifestyle made in the USA.
The unions of the big three auto companies in North America, Ford, GM and Stellantis, have called for a strike on September 15 through the United Auto Worker (UAW), the entity that unites the unions of the sector in the United States. . .
Barbecue
This is not just any strike, but the most important protest faced by the North American auto industry, a strike that 17 days after its start has cost the major brands in the region about 6 billion euros. himself to intervene.
Biden, who has been called an opportunist, made clear his determined support for workers by joining one of the workers’ pickets at the Mopar factory, owned by Stellantis, where he arrived in his presidential limousine. accompanied by the leader of the UAW, Shawn. Fain, and friendly sharing some barbecue sandwiches made by the workers themselves.
Strategic sector
The North American car currently accounts for 11% of global car production with tens of millions of units, data that shows the importance of a sector that directly employs 300,000 people in the territory of North America and indirectly employed 1.5 million workers.
Beyond the electoral impact of the step taken by Biden, next year there will be elections in the US and they know that any support is important to face Trump, the Democrats interpret this strike in terms of defending the method in the lives of Americans and the middle class in general.
Biden clarified that the data from the automotive industry in North America is very good and defended that not only the managers should get from it, but that these benefits should reach the workers, who have lost power to buy in a worrying way because of inflation.
Pure and simple salary
The US Government has announced data such as that the executives of the three largest companies in North America have increased their salaries by almost 40% in recent years, so they consider the need of the unions to demand a salary increase of 46 %.
An assembly line worker for any of these big three now earns $32 an hour, and the first request is $47, to which is added a series of social benefits.
The three major brands are open to negotiations. Ford stated that in his case the talks are on the right track, refusing to accept possible mediation from other organizations and without leaking more details about it, but they do not consider a salary increase which is up to 40% unreasonable.
The Stellantis Group, owner of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram, has made public its proposals to the unions, with a salary increase of 21.4%, the contribution of one billion dollars to retirement funds, measures to fight inflation and improve job security, which has not yet unblocked the situation.
General Motors and Ford
General Motors talked about five proposals on the record of economic matters that include salary improvements and the subsidy pool. Although it appears positive, the truth is that the situation does not seem to be improving or have a short-term solution.
Especially if we consider that the union association has collected a fund of 825 million dollars to pay the workers, who remain unpaid.
According to the reading of some North American car experts, this situation is a smokescreen behind the real problem of the car industry in North America, and that is that the electrification of the car will translate to the removal of up to 40% of employees. .workers in the sector.
Electric cars are much simpler than gasoline cars, up to a thousand fewer parts are used in their production, which means that a large amount of work will have to be provided in the future. years.
This is an inevitable process that is now starting and where Tesla is the only firm that is properly measured. The North American manufacturer is happy to see this situation in the strike of its main competitors, which further strengthens its economic situation, because the four gigafactories in North America continue their production with total that’s normal.
There is no labor conflict at the technology company, as it currently lacks unions.
