THIS IS CLASS WAR
Bernie Sanders addresses striking UAW workers: ‘It is a fight to take on corporate greed’
Nick Robertson
Fri, September 15, 2023
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and UAW President Shawn Fain (left) speak at a rally in support of United Auto Workers members as they strike the Big Three automakers on September 15, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) addressed striking United Auto Workers (UAW) members in Detroit on Friday, throwing his support behind a first-of-its-kind strike against the “Big Three” automakers.
“The fight you are waging here is not just about decent wages and working conditions and pensions in the automobile industry,” Sanders told the crowd. “It is a fight to take on corporate greed and tell the people on top this country belongs to all of us, not just a few.”
UAW began a strike against the “Big Three” automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — Friday morning. The union is demanding increased wages, shorter work weeks and better retirement benefits.
Sanders said the fight is much larger than just auto workers and impacts every working American fighting for greater economic equality.
“That is why every worker in America — white collar, blue collar and in between — has got to stand with UAW in your struggle for justice,” he said.
The progressive senator said that the average auto worker salary has decreased by 30 percent in the last 50 years, when adjusted for inflation. That comes as industry revenues and executive compensation have skyrocketed.
Profits at the Big Three firms increased by 92 percent in the last decade and CEO pay increased by 40 percent in the same period, according to an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute.
“Despite all of that wealth, brothers and sisters, and you know this well 60 percent of our people are living paycheck to paycheck,” Sanders said.
“I grew up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck and I know a little bit about that. This is the richest country in the history of the world and families in America, families in the automobile industry should not have to live with that kind of stress.”
The strikes are a culmination of six months of negotiations between automakers and the union. The union has turned down offers from all three firms, saying they came up short.
President Biden on Friday encouraged the companies to increase their offers in remarks.
“I believe they should go further… Record corporate profits, which they have, should be shared by record contracts for the UAW,” Biden said.
“No one wants a strike. But I respect workers’ rights to use their options under the collective bargaining system and I understand the workers’ frustration.”
Sanders ended his speech with remarks for the automakers’ leadership.
“I would like to say a word to the CEOs of General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. Understand, CEOs, the enormous financial sacrifices your workers have made over the years,” he said.
“It is time for you to end your greed. It is time for you to treat your employees with the respect and dignity they deserve. It is time to sit down and negotiate a fair contract.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders calls out automaker CEOs at UAW strike rally: ‘It is time for you to end your greed’
PUBLISHED FRI, SEP 15 2023
Spencer Kimball@SPENCEKIMBALL
Spencer Kimball@SPENCEKIMBALL
KEY POINTS
Sen. Bernie Sanders addressed automobile workers at UAW rally in Detroit Friday evening.
Sanders called out the CEOs of General Motors, Stellantis and Ford over their pay.
“It is time for you to end your greed,” Sanders said. “It is time to sit down and negotiate a fair contract.”
The independent senator from Vermont has promoted the strikes as a pivotal moment in a broader campaign to raise living standards for working people across the U.S.
Sen. Bernie Sanders addressed striking autoworkers in Detroit on Friday, calling on working people across the U.S. to stand in solidarity with the walkout.
Sanders called out General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares and Ford CEO Jim Farley, all of whom made over $20 million last year, about their pay.
“It is time for you to end your greed,” Sanders said. “It is time for you to treat your employees with the respect and dignity they deserve. It is time to sit down and negotiate a fair contract.”
The independent senator from Vermont has promoted the strikes as a pivotal moment in a broader campaign to raise living standards for working people across the U.S.
“Let us stand together to end corporate greed, let us stand together to rebuild the disappearing middle class, let us create an economy that works for all, not just the one percent,” Sanders said.
“Let us all, every American, in every state in this country stand with the UAW,” the senator said.
Nearly 13,000 United Auto Workers members went on strike Friday after the union and the big three automobile manufacturers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — failed to reach an agreement Thursday night.
Workers are targeting three key plants in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. The strikes are the first time in the labor movement’s history that GM, Ford and Stellantis have been targeted at the same time.
Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, made income inequality the central focus of his two unsuccessful campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination, drawing large crowds at rallies with his uncompromising attacks against corporate America.
Sanders took the helm of the powerful Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in February. In one of his first acts as chair, he threatened to subpoena Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz over allegations of union busting.
Sanders said Friday that UAW workers were fighting to bring back the days when unionized automobile jobs were the gold standard for the middle class.
“When you have auto workers who cannot afford to buy the cars they make, that is bad for the economy,” the senator said.
United Auto Workers members attend a solidarity rally as the UAW strikes the Big Three automakers on September 15, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images
UAW President Shawn Fain said earlier Friday that striking workers are “fighting for the justice of the working class.” He accused the automakers of “price-gouging” consumers, “ripping off” the taxpayer and “shortchanging” workers.
President Joe Biden, who has sought to closely ally himself with the labor movement, was more measured in remarks delivered Friday but he called on the automakers to ensure “record corporate profits mean record contracts” for their workers.
The UAW is demanding a 40% hourly wage increase, a 32-hour workweek, the restoration of cost-of-living adjustments, a return to traditional pensions, and the elimination of compensation tiers, among other demands.
Ford said the union’s demands would more than double the automaker’s labor costs and place the company at a competitive disadvantage compared to non-unionized car companies such as Tesla and foreign manufacturers like Toyota.
Barra said she was “extremely frustrated and disappointed” with the strikes.
UAW President Shawn Fain said earlier Friday that striking workers are “fighting for the justice of the working class.” He accused the automakers of “price-gouging” consumers, “ripping off” the taxpayer and “shortchanging” workers.
President Joe Biden, who has sought to closely ally himself with the labor movement, was more measured in remarks delivered Friday but he called on the automakers to ensure “record corporate profits mean record contracts” for their workers.
The UAW is demanding a 40% hourly wage increase, a 32-hour workweek, the restoration of cost-of-living adjustments, a return to traditional pensions, and the elimination of compensation tiers, among other demands.
Ford said the union’s demands would more than double the automaker’s labor costs and place the company at a competitive disadvantage compared to non-unionized car companies such as Tesla and foreign manufacturers like Toyota.
Barra said she was “extremely frustrated and disappointed” with the strikes.
At a Detroit rally, Bernie Sanders cheers on striking workers and condemns ‘corporate greed.’
The senator from Vermont spoke of the growing gap between C.E.O. and worker pay, urging the leaders of the Big Three automakers to understand “the sacrifices your workers have made over the years.”
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont speaking to United Auto Workers members at a rally along the Detroit riverfront, near General Motors headquarters, on Friday.Credit...Eric Cox/Reuters
By Santul Nerkar and Neal E. Boudette
Sept. 15, 2023
At a rally in downtown Detroit on Friday, just a couple of hundred yards from the headquarters of General Motors, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont addressed a cheering crowd of United Auto Workers members, capping a day of walkouts by the union with an effort to rally support for the strike.
Mr. Sanders echoed the populist talking points of his campaigns for president in 2016 and 2020, speaking about income inequality in the United States, and he criticized the chief executives of the Big Three automakers — G.M., Stellantis and Ford Motor — for their compensation.
“The fight you are waging here is not just about decent wages and working conditions and pensions in the auto industry,” Mr. Sanders said. “It’s a fight to take on corporate greed and tell the people on top the country belongs to all of us, not just the few.”
The rally took place along Detroit’s riverfront, near the city’s iconic Renaissance Center towers, home to G.M. headquarters. Also nearby is the Huntington Place convention center, where auto executives were gathering for a black-tie charity ball to kick off the 2023 Detroit auto show.
Several hundred U.A.W. members, most of them clad in labor’s red shirts and waving picket signs, crowded in front of the rally’s small stage. A dozen television cameras were jammed together on another small, raised platform to record the event. As the crowd awaited the first speakers, a sound system blared upbeat anthems like Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family“ and “We’re Not Going to Take It” by Twisted Sister.
Throughout Mr. Sanders’s speech, they erupted into chants of “Bernie, Bernie!”
Sanders spoke about the growing gap between C.E.O. and worker pay. The U.A.W. has said that one of the driving forces behind its demands for higher pay is the growth in compensation for the top leaders at the Big Three automakers.
Addressing the Big Three leaders, Sanders said, “Understand, C.E.O.s, the sacrifices your workers have made over the years.”
In a comment directed at Mary Barra, G.M.’s chief executive., Mr. Sanders said, “Do you understand what it’s like to live on $17 an hour?” Mr. Sanders went on to make pointed remarks about the growth in compensation for Ms. Barra, as well as Carlos Tavares and Jim Farley, her counterparts at Stellantis and Ford.
Mr. Sanders also lamented the gap in pay between newer and more veteran workers at the automakers. “Time is long overdue to end the two-tiered system,” he said.
Among Mr. Sanders’s talking points was the country’s decline in well-paying union jobs. Mr. Sanders has long railed against the forces that have moved many manufacturing and automotive jobs overseas, including globalization and free trade agreements.
He closed his speech by saying, “Let us all stand with the U.A.W.”
By Santul Nerkar and Neal E. Boudette
Sept. 15, 2023
At a rally in downtown Detroit on Friday, just a couple of hundred yards from the headquarters of General Motors, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont addressed a cheering crowd of United Auto Workers members, capping a day of walkouts by the union with an effort to rally support for the strike.
Mr. Sanders echoed the populist talking points of his campaigns for president in 2016 and 2020, speaking about income inequality in the United States, and he criticized the chief executives of the Big Three automakers — G.M., Stellantis and Ford Motor — for their compensation.
“The fight you are waging here is not just about decent wages and working conditions and pensions in the auto industry,” Mr. Sanders said. “It’s a fight to take on corporate greed and tell the people on top the country belongs to all of us, not just the few.”
The rally took place along Detroit’s riverfront, near the city’s iconic Renaissance Center towers, home to G.M. headquarters. Also nearby is the Huntington Place convention center, where auto executives were gathering for a black-tie charity ball to kick off the 2023 Detroit auto show.
Several hundred U.A.W. members, most of them clad in labor’s red shirts and waving picket signs, crowded in front of the rally’s small stage. A dozen television cameras were jammed together on another small, raised platform to record the event. As the crowd awaited the first speakers, a sound system blared upbeat anthems like Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family“ and “We’re Not Going to Take It” by Twisted Sister.
Throughout Mr. Sanders’s speech, they erupted into chants of “Bernie, Bernie!”
Sanders spoke about the growing gap between C.E.O. and worker pay. The U.A.W. has said that one of the driving forces behind its demands for higher pay is the growth in compensation for the top leaders at the Big Three automakers.
Addressing the Big Three leaders, Sanders said, “Understand, C.E.O.s, the sacrifices your workers have made over the years.”
In a comment directed at Mary Barra, G.M.’s chief executive., Mr. Sanders said, “Do you understand what it’s like to live on $17 an hour?” Mr. Sanders went on to make pointed remarks about the growth in compensation for Ms. Barra, as well as Carlos Tavares and Jim Farley, her counterparts at Stellantis and Ford.
Mr. Sanders also lamented the gap in pay between newer and more veteran workers at the automakers. “Time is long overdue to end the two-tiered system,” he said.
Among Mr. Sanders’s talking points was the country’s decline in well-paying union jobs. Mr. Sanders has long railed against the forces that have moved many manufacturing and automotive jobs overseas, including globalization and free trade agreements.
He closed his speech by saying, “Let us all stand with the U.A.W.”
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