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Bridging the Gap

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Bridging the Gap May - June 2015 Bridging the Gap Bargaining convention gets our members ready to help their families and communities SOLIDARITY May - June 2015 1 It’s time to bridge the gap between working people and the wealthy Editor’s note: The following is an communities, cities and states. In fact, an article in Forbes edited version of UAW President Small businesses cannot stated that CEO pay is 296 times Dennis Williams’ March 25 speech survive. as the average worker in 2013. to delegates at the 2015 Special Who pays the price? We do. In the same article it reported Bargaining Convention at Cobo Hall in Who suffers? The American the United States has the highest Detroit. For the full speech, please go people, the worker, retiree and percentage of low-wage workers to http://bit.ly/1FHYWVz . our children. of any developed nation. Communities and state When consumers … can’t Our union, like so many working governments start cutting afford a car, a house or men and women in this country, services, laying off people as products, if they can’t save for has been under attack in so their tax base diminishes. their children’s college or are many ways — whether it’s by the strapped with debt, then I say Supreme Court ruling that set back there is something wrong in this the Voting Rights Act or a state We cannot be ready country. that takes away a state worker’s It’s time for a renewed right to collectively bargain and to accept that commitment by all the labor passes right-to-work legislation everyday people in movement to join together; a that attempts to undermine work rebirth and a commitment to place unity. the United States grow the middle class! All are designed to diminish of America work 40 We need a commitment from workers’ rights, to diminish our representatives in our state collective bargaining, and diminish hours, 50 hours and houses, a commitment from our the fundamental democratic more and are living federal representatives and a principles our country developed call for equality, both racially to build the greatest nation on in poverty. and economically. Earth. As an American citizen we Without these principles there cannot be comfortable living in would have never been a middle Over the years we have seen our country while children are class or an equality of income. the worst and the best of going hungry, while Americans The United States’ economy or government. are working as temporaries on any economy can’t have long-term A government that ignored a full-time basis — referred to growth without a balance. Wall Street and banks to the as “Perm-a-Temps” — without a A free market society must point of an economic collapse, future, without any employment have working men and women as we saw in 2009, and today a security. with disposable income — real recovery that has given life once We cannot be ready to accept purchasing power — to be a again to many of the industries that everyday people in the consumer of goods. and sectors of the economy we United States of America work A society built on low-wage represent. 40 hours, 50 hours and more and jobs does not deliver purchasing But yet, it has left too many are living in poverty. power, therefore slowing economic people behind. We ask President Obama to growth, shrinking the middle class, At the same time the join us, to once again declare as which puts more working people in separation of the working class a nation to end poverty in the jeopardy and more in poverty. and wealthy continue to grow United States of America. It slows growth in our apart. Renew the American spirit; we 2 SOLIDARITY May - June 2015 call upon workers everywhere, white collar and blue collar, to once again unify, join together — be part of the labor movement and help us rebuild the middle class, rebuild our nation. This year we all have a great responsibility, full of challenges. As you have seen we have a lot of members who will be negotiating contracts across the country, with a great deal at stake. Our challenges are real, there is global competition, and competitors that have advantages, both economically and Black Lake Family Scholarship governments that manipulate currency and put up barriers to Program: Page 24 imports in their own countries. No one can afford to get this wrong. Our government cannot negotiate another bad trade agreement. 4 PRO-Member Companies cannot make bad decisions in their products or Lockout builds solidarity engineering processes. Nor can we not face the facts or the realities. I say this because we have listened to the concerns of our 6 Contract at NYU members and we will continue to listen. Academic members win But brothers and sisters, as you heard from the officers, the historic agreement state of our union is as strong as ever. We are up to face any challenge we may have. 8 Make it Home We are focused on negotiations, organizing, community and Think safety every day political action. I truly believe that the companies we deal with know that 10 A “Gentle Giant” we can be creative and thoughtful. UAW mourns death of But they also know that sharing in bad times must be General Holiefield equally shared in good times. Brothers and sisters, it is our time, our time to once again 14 COVER STORY be unified in solidarity, and a clear understanding that it’s Bridging the Gap: time to bridge that gap. convention coverage Our union will never abandon the principles in which we 25 We’re Growing! were founded: Fifth straight year of • That workers need a membership gains voice in the workplace, to have the right to collectively bargain. PLUS • Equality. • A fair day’s work for a 13 Legislative Update fair day’s pay. 22 Art Show at Ford • Equal pay for equal work. 26 Union Plus • Nor will we ever forget our retirees! 27 Memorial Day The Executive Board of the International Union, your Cover photos by Rebecca Cook elected officials, are ready to Top photo by Marvin Zeigler/UAW Local 600 stand up to the challenge and I know in our unity and our solidarity that you are, too. SOLIDARITY May - June 2015 3 A lesson in Solidarity Members in Ohio learn a great deal by standing together during lockout Saturday, June 14, 2014, should already paid for our health care. lockout were on the horizon. In have been a day like any other for “On top of that, they wanted the weeks leading up to their the 174 UAW members of Local a new two-tier wage system. May 31 contract expiration, 2387. It was a sunny, warm day We couldn’t even vote on the company gave mandatory and the Country Music Festival their offer because for several overtime to meet “increased was kicking off in Lebanon, Ohio. weeks their draft language was demand.” The extra inventory Members had not even finished incomplete and during this period gave them the cushion to bus in their shift at Hayashi Telempu the company was being very 300 to 400 temporary workers — North America, also known as difficult to work with on the many from out of state — to do HTNA, when they were asked to language changes.” the work of UAW members. head for the gates. At 3:15 p.m., HTNA is an auto supplier “The cost of housing and security guards moved to the plant that makes interior carpet for transporting them and hiring a entrances and set up blocks. All companies like Mitsubishi, Toyota, fully staffed security company UAW members were told not to Lexus and Honda. The members 24/7 was probably extraordinary, show up for work on Monday. have been organized since 1998. but it was worth it to HTNA to It was a lockout. But the turn of events that day try to bust our resolve,” Howard “We had been in bargaining for a was shocking to the members of recalled. while and things were rough. The Local 2387. Even the weekend of the company demanded a 15 percent “This is a small town and many lockout, UAW members found a pay cut. They wanted to get rid of of us have worked here for receipt for a heavy chain and the our five paid personal days, double- decades. When the tsunami hit maintenance crew — the first ones time pay, outside contracting Japan, we pulled extra duty to to arrive to start the machines — language,” said Rachelle Howard, help out HTNA because their had been cryptically told not to a member of the bargaining home base was really affected report the following week. committee and a first-shift steward. by the disaster. Whatever the The lockout lasted about four “They wanted us to give up our company has asked for, we’ve months. seniority language and they wanted done for them,” Howard said. “It was not easy at all,” Howard us to more than double what we Looking back, the signs of the said. “We’re talking families, The passing of Dave Cox — during the lockout — weighed heavily on the minds of Local 2387 members. Had it not been for his UAW contract his family would not have had life insurance. His UAW leadership worked to make sure his wife received his negotiated benefit, which she wasn’t aware of. 4 SOLIDARITY May - June 2015 The company’s efforts to break the union through Local 2387’s stand against HTNA showed the the use of replacement employees failed.
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