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Strike of General Motor Workers in USA
About 48,000 workers
belonging to all the plants of
General Motors (GM) including the
workers throughout USA are
striking
indefinitely
since
September 2019. The strike is
called by the United Autoworkers
Union (UAW). The striking workers
are demanding for pay raises and
other benefits. This is the first
nation-wide strike in USA after two
decades. This strike is the result
of decade of employees’ frustration
with the company which severely
cut back benefits and pays for
workers during the great recession.
Though the company subsequently
has begun earning handsome
profits, it has not withdrawn the cut-
backs of benefits or pay reduction.
This caused for the resentment of
workers against the company’s
policies of exploitation that has
goaded them into striking for pay
rise and other benefits as their just
demands.
Due to the strike for past six
weeks GM is losing as much as $90
million a day. Due to strike at GM
its supplies too are hit.
In solidarity with GM workers
strike in USA, the GM workers in
Mexico too went into strike. The
UAW is giving a $ 275 weekly
stipend to each striking worker,
though this amount is not enough
to pay all their bills. In Warren,
Michigan, GM employees are
collecting food diapers and baby
foods to help striking workers get
by. The workers strike is receiving
support from unions in other
industries.
The UAW after discussions
with management of GM has
recently released the particulars of
a tentative four year contract and
persuading its members to
approve the tentative deal reached
with the management of GM. If a
majority votes for it, the six week
14
strike will end and workers will
return to work.
On perusal of the particulars of
the tentative deal reached between
the management of GM and UAW,
it is apparent that the forces of
globalization proved to be stronger
than the collective bargaining
power of the union.
According to the tentative deal
the workers are guaranteed a 3%
pay rise and 4% lump sum increase
in alternate years. When this pay
rise is compared with the contract
of 2015, this is not a great benefit,
since in 2015 without any strike the
pay was raised to the same levels.
However, presently the GM agreed
to lift the $ 12,000 cap on profit
sharing. So there is no limit to the
cut workers can get from GM’s
profit. Right now they each get
$1,000 for every $1 billion the
company earns.
The GM agreed to keep
working the Detroit-Hantrank
factory, which was one of the four
factories slated for closure before
the strike began.
Now a process started for
temporary workers to become
permanent employees and for
newer hires to earn full pay rate in
less time. The top wage rate is
increased from about $ 30 to 35
per hour.
Permanent workers will get an
$ 11,000 signing bonus, and
temporary workers will get $ 4,500.
This bonus basically covers the
wages they lost during the strike
period.
However the GM has not
accepted to move car production
from Mexico to a closed down
factory in Ohio. Instead now the
GM promised to open an electric
car battery factory near the closed
Lords Town plant. But this factory
would only employ a few hundred
people at lower wages. The GM
has not accepted to move its
assembly lines from a factory in
Mexico to Lords Town in USA, since
the labour costs are much cheaper
in Mexico.
After six weeks of strike, the
condition of lack of wages is
creating a lot of pressure on
workers to take whatever deal they
can get.
Though the tentative deal is
not a great achievement and
victory for striking workers, UAW is
persuading the workers to approve
the deal by voting for it. Most of the
UAW affiliates have voted in favour
of the deal, but workers at the
Spring-hill Tennessee assembly
plant have voted against the deal.
The voting at Lords Town plant
scheduled for Wednesday is
postponed by one day. The UAW
will announce its final results on
Friday (25-10-2019). But according
to the media news, the UAW’s
tentative four year contract will be
approved by the workers despite
dis-agreement and opposition from
certain sections of the members of
the union.
This experience of GM
workers’ strike in USA not only
shows how the forces of imperialist
globalization have the upper hand,
but also shows how a strike is one
particular sector by itself cannot
win the dispute unless and other-
wise the entire workers of all
industrial sectors join forces and
enter into strike to gain upper hand
over the monopoly capital owned
MNCs. The experience also warns
the workers to overthrow the
bureaucratic leadership of the
trade unions and establish trade
union democracy and democratic
leadership that acts on the
collective decisions and aspirations
of union members in conducting a
strike, its withdrawal and entering
into agreements with the corporate
managements.
Class Struggle