To: Detroit/Seattle
Workers' Voice mailing list
October 24, 2019
RE: More on the GM tentative agreement
This was posted on FB several days ago:
My opinion: I'm a UAW member who not only functions as a committeeman, but as a 20 year worker for GM. I'm disappointed in this T.A that has been handed down. We as members have held the line for 32 days in support of our IUAW officials. I personally feel they did NOT live up too their responsibilities with constructing a fair, equitable, and job protecting agreement.
Current in-progression members should not have too wait 4 years for top rate. I would have preferred in the year 2022 all members reach full rate...6 years is enough. Take into account, that if someone is hired "tomorrow" they reach full pay in 4 years! It's a Slap in the face of the members who have been here already.
Temporary members have a path, but there are so many loopholes that I'm concerned the language will negate a "fair" path.
All members, regardless of status, pay, length of service, should be entitled to whatever bonuses are paid out! If you work the hours, you deserve the money!!!
Job security?? Where is it. Nothing protects us going forward. No promises of future work, no promises of relocating products from foreign land.
Apprentices...they still OWE us from the previous agreement!! What has changed to expect they will honor these 400 New apprentices.
No cola (cost-of-living adjustment)! Come on already with this. Keep your lump sum bonuses and your $11,000 bribe (signing bonus). We are now over 12 years away from the concessions. You gotta do better.
I will say, I do support the efforts on maintaining our healthcare, core classifications for skilled trades, and a half-hearted effort at regaining independence week vacation.
At the end of the day, I believe certain members of the IUAW wanted this T.A to be presented to the locals so they could "wash" their hands of any responsibility. Meaning...present the membership this offer with a $11,000 bribe(signing bonus) if it passes they can say "well the membership voted it in." In my opinion, this is cowardly and NOT Leadership.
I understand, I will probably receive backlash for this. I can't honestly sit on the sidelines and not voice my opinion. I have a vote just like you. As I've stated before, this our time to fix the wrongs, protect our future and establish equality. We've had support from Ford, coal miners, electrical unions..etc...is this really how we repay them...by voting yes? We are carrying the torch for all of those members and millions of other workers. Let's continue to hold the line. <>
Based on notes by Mark Williams, Detroit Workers' Voice
The tentative agreement maintains all the tiers, even part-time temporary workers, in the multi-tier system. This system not only exploits the lower tiers, but it destroys worker solidarity.
a) LEGACY WORKERS: These are workers hired before the 2007 concessions and are the veterans, the higher-paid workers who are being offered an $11,000 signing bonus if the TA is approved.
b) IN-PROGRESSION WORKERS: This status is a poorer version of regular worker status, with lower starting pay than legacy workers. Under the previous agreement, it would take them 8 years to reach their top wage (which is still below that of the legacy workers), and they would still have substantially worse benefits. Under the new contract they are supposed to only take 4 years to reach the top wage, but still with the worse benefits. It is not totally clear, though, about how their progression will proceed. According to some reports, about 35% of the workforce is in this category.
c) TEMPORARY WORKERS: There are various types, full-timers which work 40 hours per week, and part-timers which might work, say, only Monday and Friday. These workers previously had no profit-sharing, poor health benefits, half the wages of other workers, and only three days of unpaid leave per year. They are about 7% of the workforce.
A major promise to the temps in the tentative agreement is that they will become "in-progression" workers after 3 years of continuous employment, meaning employment without a break at any time of more than 30 days. But workers fear that this means that all GM would have to do is lay-off a temp for more than a month for the clock to start again on the needed 3 years of continuous employment.
The tentative contract promises slightly more time off from the daily torture than before: "40 hours of paid time off and 24 hours of unpaid time off a year for temporary members who work more than 12 continuous months, but fewer than 36 continuous months." Not much! And they will continue to have the same miserable benefits as before.
More deceptive is the "Union Oversight on Use of Temporary Workers" provision which says that the union must approve any use of temps to "supplement the workforce for straight time, overtime or weekend work in any plant covered by the UAW GM National Agreement. The company may use part-time temporary employment only with UAW approval." This doesn't mean that the GM really will only use part-time temps if the workers agree. If that were really so, the status would be gone. Instead, it means the UAW leadership has given guarantees to GM that it will approve a number of part-time temps; it is silent about how many. If the past is any guide, once the contract is approved the local UAW leadership will tell the workers -- we have to agree to more part-time temps, or GM will close our plant.
So temps, and even part-time temps, will continue to be hired. To add insult to injury, the return to work bonus for temps is less than half ($4,500) of the $11,000 of the regular workforce.
d) OUTSOURCED JOBS: These are jobs that used to be done by
regular UAW workers, but older ones as the jobs were supposed to be
less demanding, such as janitorial jobs. The old system is gone, and
these jobs are no longer for regular auto workers. The jobs have been
outsourced to Aramark and other companies, and the outsourced
workers are paid rather like temporary auto workers. These workers are
still in the UAW, but their contract is separate from that of regular
auto workers. They have no path whatsoever to higher tier workers' pay
and benefits. The details of the new contract haven't been announced,
but it undoubtedly leaves the situation of outsourced workers basically
unchanged.<>
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Slightly edited w.r.t. in-progression top pay, and posted on November 1,
2019
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