Schumer Visits UAW Picket Line In Tappan

TAPPAN, NY — U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate majority leader, visited the United Auto Workers union picket line outside the Chrysler Parts Depot in Tappan on Tuesday.

Workers there walked off the job Friday, one week into the union's historic work stoppages against major car makers.

"The UAW and its world-class workforce has helped build and strengthen America’s car-and-truck industry and the middle class, and nowhere is that more true than the Empire State – from the Hudson Valley to Western New York," Schumer said. "Today, I joined UAW Local 3039 workers in Rockland County on the picket line in the fight for better wages, better benefits, and improved working conditions, and I stand with them in solidarity. I urge the car companies to stay at the table and bargain with UAW in good faith to quickly reach a new contract with fair wages, benefits and working conditions."

As the strike widened Friday, union workers walked out of dozens of more factories across 20 states, the Associated Press reported.

The UAW's targeted strikes against General Motors, Stellantis and Ford began after the union's contract with the companies expired at midnight Sept. 14. At the time, 13,000 workers walked out of three assembly plants — and union leadership warned that more locations could be impacted there wasn't significant progress in contract negotiations.

Bargaining continued Thursday, although neither side reported any breakthroughs, and on Friday the UAW announced it would be walking out of 38 more General Motors and Stellantis parts distribution centers. Another 5,600 workers joined the strike — meaning that about 13 percent of the union's 146,000 members are now on the picket lines.

The UAW is seeking big raises and better benefits — pointing to CEO pay raises that the three companies have raked in recent years. They also want to get back concessions that the workers made years ago.

The Detroit Three say they need to invest profits in a transition from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles.

In the last week, tensions rose as the companies laid off thousands of workers, saying some factories are running short on parts because of the strike.

WHAT DO WORKERS WANT?

The union is asking for 36% raises in general pay over four years — a top-scale assembly plant worker gets about $32 an hour now. In addition, the UAW has demanded an end to varying tiers of wages for factory jobs; a 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay; the restoration of traditional defined-benefit pensions for new hires who now receive only 401(k)-style retirement plans; and a return of cost-of-living pay raises, among other benefits.

Perhaps most important to the union is that it be allowed to represent workers at 10 electric vehicle battery factories, most of which are being built by joint ventures between automakers and South Korean battery makers. The union wants those plants to receive top UAW wages. In part that’s because workers who now make components for internal combustion engines will need a place to work as the industry transitions to EVs.

Currently, UAW workers hired after 2007 don’t receive defined-benefit pensions. Their health benefits are also less generous. For years, the union gave up general pay raises and lost cost-of-living wage increases to help the companies control costs. Though top-scale assembly workers earn $32.32 an hour, temporary workers start at just under $17. Still, full-time workers have received profit-sharing checks ranging this year from $9,716 at Ford to $14,760 at Stellantis.

UAW President Shawn Fain contends that the richly profitable automakers can afford to raise workers’ pay significantly to make up for what the union gave up to help the companies withstand the 2007-2009 financial crisis and the Great Recession.

Over the past decade, the Detroit Three have emerged as robust profit-makers. They’ve collectively posted net income of $164 billion, $20 billion of it this year. The CEOs of all three major automakers earn multiple millions in annual compensation.

WHAT HAVE THE COMPANIES PROPOSED?

The automakers have moved closer to the UAW’s demands on wages, but a big gulf remains.

Ahead of the strike beginning last week, GM said it boosted its offer to a 20% wage increase over four years, including 10% in the first year. Ford is also offered a 20% boost in pay. On Saturday, shortly after the strike began, Stellantis detailed its latest offer for cumulative raises of nearly 21% in hourly wages.

While they appear to remain far apart on wage increases, Fain on Friday said that there had been “some real progress” made at Ford.

“We still have serious issues to work through, but we do want to recognize that Ford is showing that they are serious about reaching a deal... At GM and Stellantis, it’s a different story,” Fain said. Those companies, he added, have rejected the union’s proposals for cost-of-living increases, profit sharing and job security.

The companies have rebuffed the union’s demands as too expensive. They say they will spend vast amounts of capital in the coming years to continue to build combustion-engine vehicles while at the same time designing electric vehicles and building battery and assembly plants for the future, and can’t afford to be saddled with significantly higher labor costs.

They also contend that a lavish UAW contract would force up the retail prices of vehicles, pricing Detroit automakers above competitors from Europe and Asia. Outside analysts say that when wages and benefits are included, Detroit Three assembly plant workers now receive around $60 an hour while workers at Asian automaker plants in the U.S. get $40 to $45.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.