First private US passenger rail line in 100 years is about to link Miami and Orlando at high speed

TERRY SPENCER and DANIEL KOZIN
Updated Thu, September 21, 2023 





  

A Brightline train approaches the Fort Lauderdale station on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The first big test of whether privately owned high-speed passenger train service can prosper in the United States will launch Friday, Sept. 22, when Florida's Brightline begins running trains between Miami and Orlando, reaching speeds of 125 mph (200 kph). 

(AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

MIAMI (AP) — The first big test of whether privately owned high-speed passenger train service can prosper in the United States will launch Friday when Florida's Brightline begins running trains between Miami and Orlando, reaching speeds of 125 mph (200 kph).

It's a $5 billion bet Brightline's owner, Fortress Investment Group, is making, believing that eventually 8 million people annually will take the 3.5-hour, 235-mile (378-kilometer) trip between the state's biggest tourist hubs — about 30 minutes less than the average drive between the two cities. The company is charging single riders $158 round-trip for business class and $298 for first-class, with families and groups able to buy four round-trip tickets for $398. Thirty-two trains will run daily.

Brightline, which began running its neon-yellow trains the 70 miles (112 kilometers) between Miami and West Palm Beach in 2018, is the first private intercity passenger service to begin U.S. operations in a century. It's also building a line connecting Southern California and Las Vegas that it hopes to open in 2027 with trains that will reach 190 mph (305 kph). The only other U.S. high-speed line is Amtrak's Acela service between Boston and Washington, D.C., which began in 2000. Amtrak is owned by the federal government.

“This is a pretty important moment, whether you’re thinking about it in the context of the state of Florida or what it might mean for these kinds of products as they develop elsewhere in the United States," Brightline CEO Mike Reininger said in a recent interview. “The idea that my car is the only way for me to get where I need to go is being challenged by a new product. A new product that’s safer, that’s greener, that is a great value proposition (and) it’s fun.”

The Florida trains, which run on biodiesel, will travel up to 79 mph (127 kph) in urban areas, 110 mph (177 kph) in less-populated regions and 125 mph (200 kph) through central Florida’s farmland. Brightline plans possible extensions to Tampa and Jacksonville.

John Renne, director of Florida Atlantic University's Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions, said the Miami-Orlando corridor is a perfect spot for high-speed rail — about 40 million Floridians and visitors make the trip annually, with more than 90% of them driving.

If Brightline succeeds that could lead to more high-speed lines between major cities 200 to 300 miles (320 to 480 kilometers) apart, both by Brightline and competitors, he said.

“It is quite exciting for South Florida to kind of be a test bed for what could be seen as a new paradigm for transportation, particularly high-speed rail transportation, in the United States,” Renne said.

Because Brightline is privately owned and seeking a profit, it was more sensitive to getting the project completed quickly to save money. On the government side, Renne pointed to California’s effort to build a high-speed rail system. Approved by voters in 2008, it isn’t near fruition, has already cost billions more than expected and its prospects for completion are uncertain as finding a route through mountains is proving difficult and politicians added dubious side projects. Brightline began planning in 2012.

Brightline's development has suffered setbacks, though. COVID-19 shut down the Miami-West Palm Beach line for 17 months. A 2018 partnership with Richard Branson's Virgin Group to rebrand Brightline as Virgin Trains USA quickly soured. Brightline terminated the partnership in 2020 and Virgin sued in London. According to the lawsuit, Brightline says Virgin “ceased to constitute a brand of international high repute, largely because of matters related to the pandemic." That case is pending.

Then there is the question of safety for residents near the tracks.

Brightline trains have the highest death rate in the U.S., fatally striking 98 people since Miami-West Palm operations began — about one death for every 32,000 miles (51,500 kilometers) its trains travel, according to an ongoing Associated Press analysis of federal data that began in 2019. The next-worst major railroad has a fatality every 130,000 miles (209,200 kilometers).

None of the deaths have been found to be Brightline's fault — most have been suicides, drivers who go around crossing gates or pedestrians running across tracks. The company hasn’t had a fatality since June, its longest stretch except during the pandemic shutdown.

Still, the company's fatality rate concerns officials in the extension area.

Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers said a Brightline official seemed callous during a recent meeting, saying he seemed more worried about explaining Brightline’s procedure for getting passengers to their destination after an accident than how it deals with deaths.

“They don’t seem to have any empathy for our community. We’re just in their way,” said Flowers, whose county includes Vero Beach. “It’s a cost of doing business for them that they’re going to run some people over.”

Brightline has taken steps its leaders believe enhance safety, including adding closed-circuit cameras near tracks, installing better crossing gates and pedestrian barriers and posting signage that includes the suicide prevention hotline.

“We have invested heavily in the infrastructure so that we have a safe corridor,” Reininger said. “We continue to operate literally every day with safety at top of mind.”

Reininger said most of Brightline’s Miami-Orlando passengers will come from those who drive the route regularly and others who stay home because they hate the drive. Prime targets are families headed to Orlando’s theme parks and travelers to South Florida’s nightlife, concerts, sports and cruises.

The drive between Miami and Orlando takes about four hours each way on Florida’s Turnpike with round-trip tolls costing between $40 and $60. Gas costs between $50 and $80, plus wear and tear on the vehicle.

Reininger said his company’s challenge is to convince travelers that its trains’ amenities make any extra cost worthwhile.

“It’s the value of your time,” Reininger said. The train “gives you the ability to use your time that you are dedicating to travel in any number of ways that you can’t do when you are behind the wheel.”

Robert Barr, who lives near Miami and publishes guides on rum and South Florida locales, has taken Brightline to West Palm Beach and looks forward to traveling the line to Orlando. He said Brightline’s accommodations “compare really well to some of the best trains” he’s taken in Europe, where high-speed rail between cities is common.

“You’ve got comfortable seats and a relatively quiet ride. It feels very modern,” said Barr.

Miami-Orlando Brightline route is ready to roll. What to know about taking the train

Devoun Cetoute
Fri, September 22, 2023 

Taking a train ride from Miami to Orlando is no longer just talk. Brightline’s new higher-speed rail connection is starting after more than four years in the making.

On Friday, Sept. 22, the inaugural trip was scheduled to leave the downtown Miami station at 6:41 a.m. for a 3-1/2 journey to the recently finished station at Orlando International Airport.

This is Brightline’s sixth stop, and the first outside of South Florida. Trains already run between Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach.


Brightline unveils new station at Orlando International Airport on Thursday along with ticket prices and an opening date coming this summer.

Work on the Orlando route got started in June 2019, with station construction starting in January 2022. Leading up to the Orlando route debut, Brightline made history as the fastest train in the Southeast earlier this year, reaching speeds of 130 mph in a test run.

“This is a pretty important moment, whether you’re thinking about it in the context of the state of Florida or what it might mean for these kinds of products as they develop elsewhere in the United States,” Brightline CEO Mike Reininger said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “The idea that my car is the only way for me to get where I need to go is being challenged by a new product. A new product that’s safer, that’s greener, that is a great value proposition,” and “it’s fun.”

TAKE A LOOK: Brightline unveils new Orlando station. Here’s when you can grab tickets

Here’s what to know Brightline’s newest route:
Where can I buy tickets?

▪ Tickets can be purchased through Brightline’s website (gobrightline.com) and the company’s app. Tickets are available for train rides to Orlando between September and March.

▪ One-way standard tickets, or SMART fares, to Orlando start at $79 for adults and are $39 for kids ages 2 to 12. Round-trip tickets will are available.

▪ Groups of four or more people traveling together can get savings of up to 25% on their fares, according to Brightline.

▪ One-way first-class tickets, called premium fares, start at $149. These tickets come with use of a lounge, priority boarding, and complimentary snacks and beverages.
How long is the Miami to Orlando Brightline trip?

▪ The 235-mile trip from Miami to Orlando takes about 3 1/2 hours, with the train reaching speeds of up to 125 mph.

▪ Brightline earlier this year said it planned to have 16 daily round trips with hourly departures between Miami and Orlando.

▪ The Orlando service also will stop at existing stations in Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach, according to the private train company. Brightline says dedicated trains will continue to serve commuters and tourists in South Florida from Miami to West Palm Beach and back again. The only other passenger train service that connects South Florida to other parts of the state is the federally run Amtrak.

Brightline unveiled its new station at Orlando International Airport Thursday along with ticket prices and an opening date sometime in the summer.

How do Brightline passengers get to theme parks?

▪ Brightline offers “first-last mile” connections at Orlando International Airport to help passengers get to Central Florida’s main attractions, about 30 minutes from the station.

▪ Mears Transportation has partnered with Brightline to offer “shared connect shuttles” and “luxury private rides” to certain locations, which can be booked on Brightline’s mobile app and website. The shared connect shuttles run 24/7 and will take passengers to Walt Disney World Resort and 25 other resorts. Fares are $16 one-way for adults and $13 for children. Those 3 and under ride free.

▪ Luxury private rides function like a ride-share. Starting price is $63, and these riders can be taken to wherever passengers want to go.

▪ Brightline passengers are at the airport when they get off the train, which means Orlando International’s sizable ride-share area is available. Access to Uber and Lyft hubs are nearby.

▪ Car rental companies, including Hertz and Enterprise, have hubs at the airport.

▪ Certain hotels in the Orlando area also offer shuttle services from the airport and can be used by booked Brightline passengers.
What’s at the Orlando Brightline station?

▪ Brightline passengers arriving at the Orlando train station will be next to Orlando International Airport’s Terminal C. It connects to one of the airport’s parking garages with spaces reserved for Brightline travelers. Passengers also can reach airport Terminals A and B in under five minutes.

▪ The Orlando station offers self-service kiosks, luggage checks, turnstiles and ticket purchasing.

▪ Food and drink options at the Orlando train station include a sit-down bar called Mary Mary Bar serving cocktails and light food. A store called MRKT PLACE sells gifts and refreshments.

▪ A children’s play area is inside a lounge for travelers that has charging stations, TVs and Wi-Fi.

Comparing transportation options to Orlando

▪ The price of an airline ticket from Miami to Orlando can be unpredictable — all depending on the airline, dates and seating, which can all drop or increase the price of a ticket. Airline tickets usually run between just under $100 all the way to near $300 between Florida’s largest airports (Miami International to Orlando International).

▪ Driving from Miami to Orlando could take 3/12 to 4 hours hours and cost about $30 to $40 for gas.

What to know about Brightline

▪ Brightline, a private company, began South Florida service in 2018 with stations in downtown Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Stations in Aventura and Boca Raton opened in December 2022. The train stopped running for a year and a half during the height of the pandemic before resuming service and adding stations.

▪ The trains travel on tracks east of the separate Tri-Rail tracks, which run along the I-95 corridor between Miami airport and West Palm Beach.

▪ The trains go faster than Tri-Rail and freight trains, reaching speeds of more than 100 mph. That has led to safety issues at rail crossings, and dozens of crashes, many involving drivers that try to beat the train signals and don’t make it across in time as the faster yellow trains approach.

Chinese Car Brands Are Coming to the US, Still—with EVs Built in Mexico

Todd Lassa
Wed, September 20, 2023 

When Do Chinese EVs Invade the US?GAC

The Biden administration has not rescinded the Trump administration’s Chinese tariffs that impose an extra 25% on top of a 2.5% import tariff for vehicles.

But Chinese electric vehicles are making their way into global markets (including Mexico) and soon will practically surround the United States and Canada, according to an AutoForecast Solutions special report.

ZoZoGo CEO and Asian auto market expert Michael Dunne expects Chinese-branded models (beside Chevrolets, Buicks, Dodges, Volvos, and Polestars built there) to come to the US market no earlier than 2025.

January 2019 marked the last time Chinese automakers were on the brink of importing passenger vehicles under their own brand names into the United States.

For about a decade at that point, various Chinese automakers had displayed cars and concepts at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, when there were still major auto shows.

In 2019, Chinese giant GAC Motor displayed its “bullet-inspired” Entranze 3+2+2 EV concept (pictured above) from a prime spot inside Detroit’s convention center. GAC also flew in a group of foreign auto journalists and a small fleet of production models: the GA4 sedan and the GS3, GS4, GS5, and GS8 SUVs, along with the GE3 battery-electric vehicle.

GAC said at the ’19 show it would begin importing its Toyota Highlander-like GS8 to the US by the first half of 2020, but that already was pushed back from an earlier goal of late 2019, thanks to the Trump administration’s new hardline tariffs.


GAC executives also attended the National Auto Dealers Association annual meeting in San Francisco later that January to line up dealers.

As the coronavirus shut down much of the globe in the first half of 2020, GAC was largely forgotten here. Similarly, Geely’s ambitious upmarket youth brand aimed in part at the US, Lynk & Co., a line of EVs designed in Sweden and to be built in China. But that plan was canceled, and the brand name was relegated to electric scooters.

Geely-owned Zeekr X EV.Zeekr

When the Inflation Reduction Act became law in 2022, its expansive environmental component included strict local sourcing and manufacturing requirements that place imported electric vehicles at a great disadvantage: They would not be eligible for tax credits that could reduce an EV’s sticker price by as much as $7500.

On top of that, the Biden administration has not rescinded the Trump administration’s Chinese tariffs that impose an extra 25% on top of a 2.5% import tariff.

So the United States won’t see Chinese-branded EVs any time in this decade, right? IRA tax incentives run up through 2030 and depending on the political climate by then, could be extended for years.

But Chinese electric vehicles are making their way into global markets and soon will practically surround the United States and Canada, according to an AutoForecast Solutions special report in September, “Cars from China are Coming.”

Global Vehicle Forecasting Vice President Sam Fiorani writes that under the country’s Belt and Road initiative, Chinese automakers first began exports to countries in South America, Africa, and southeast Asia.

“As the vehicle quality improved, these OEMs branched out into Eastern Europe, India, and Mexico. Success has been swift and primary markets in Western Europe are the next great target.”

AutoPacific’s president and chief analyst, Ed Kim, says he spots Chinese cars with Mexican plates from around his Southern California office all the time.

Mexican policy “has increasingly favored Chinese imports,” Kim says, and not just automobiles, “to help fight the effects of inflation.”

Chinese brands broke into the Mexican market in 2017, according AFS. Vehicles built in China, mostly sold under the Chevrolet, Dodge, and Ford brands, have reached 18.5% market share there, “but the Chinese brands are growing quickly. In just its third year on the market, (SAIC’s) MG has grown to 4.1% with the support of the MG5, MG GT, and MG ZS. Privately held Chery launched this year and took 3% of the market thanks to the Omoda 5, Tiggo 4, and Tiggo 7 crossovers.”

Chinese-built 2023 XPeng P7 EV.XPeng Motors

Kim notes that the Chery brand is called “Chirey” in Mexico because Malcolm Bricklin owns the name Chery in North America. Bricklin’s Visionary Vehicles signed a deal in 2005 with Chery to sell its cars here, but the deal had soured by 2008.

“Given Chinese automakers’ global ambitions and also because the Chinese economy is flattening out, expansion has an existential purpose and will be important to their continued growth and survival,” Kim says via email. “Through whatever means, Chinese automakers will eventually sell in the US market.”

ZoZoGo CEO and Asian auto market expert Michael Dunne expects Chinese-branded models (beside Chevrolets, Buicks, Dodges, Volvos, and Polestars built there) to come to the US market no earlier than 2025. But that first Chinese vehicle in the US would almost certainly have to be an ICE model.

From the outside looking in, the Chinese auto industry seems to have moved on to EVs, with “at least” 40 of the country’s 138 automakers building only battery-electrics, according to the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The trade group says China purchased 6.8 million EVs in 2022, which is 6 million more EVs than were sold in the US last year.

China’s EV market is so advanced that obsolete electric vehicles are rusting on large fields outside big cities there, Bloomberg reports.

“Given the insane amount of innovation happening in Chinese EVs right now, and because many global automakers remain somewhat blissfully unaware of just how ahead of the game many of these new Chinese EVs are, we could be looking at a repeat of the Japanese automakers’ arrival in the 1970s and 1980s,” AutoPacific’s Kim says.

Just as Hyundai and Kia built factories in the US despite their cost disadvantage versus South Korea, Chinese automakers could consider constructing factories in Mexico, where their business is growing quickly, to build cars for the US market without the high tariffs.

“It will be tough, but not impossible, for a company like BYD or GAC to enter the US market,” AFS’ Fiorani says. “They’re already selling in good numbers in Mexico. Once they get those volumes high enough, they’ll open a local plant. With local content, they can get around the 25% tariff. JAC already assembles locally, but their products are not competitive enough to tap into the US market. BYD and Great Wall Motors are far more likely to work in the US.”

General Motors' (GM) Ontario Plant Halts BrightDrop Production


Zacks Equity Research
Wed, September 20, 2023 


General Motors Company GM will halt the production of BrightDrop commercial vans in its Ontario plant from October until next spring due to delayed delivery of battery-modules that power the vehicle.

The production of commercial vans in CAMI Assembly will resume in the spring of 2024, underpinned by the launch of CAMI’s new battery module line. The line will produce enough battery modules to fully support the production of BrightDrop vans and supplement electric vehicle (EV) production at other General Motors plants.

In July, Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, discussed an unspecified issue that decelerated its EV production. The matter involved General Motors’ unnamed automation equipment supplier, which struggled with delivery issues.
The auto giant sent a manufacturing engineering team to help the suppliers regulate its deliveries.

General Motors has also deployed manual module assembly lines at its EV plants, including the CAMI Ingersoll plant. The 400,000-square-foot plant, which will begin battery module production in the second quarter of 2024, is dedicated to producing BrightDrop Zevo and other EVs.

The CAMI plant also suspended operation in July for two weeks due to the unavailability of parts after two weeks of summer downtime.

General Motors met its goal of manufacturing 50,000 EVs in North America during the first half of 2023 and aims for around 100,000 EVs in the second half.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks

GM currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

UAW workers strike at Mercedes supplier ZF's plant in Alabama

Sept 20 (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers (UAW) union said on Wednesday that 190 workers went on strike at Mercedes-supplier ZF's plant in Alabama, demanding higher pay and better healthcare benefits.

The workers are also seeking an end to the tier system of wages, under which older employees get higher pay than newer workers for the same job.

ZF, which makes front axles used by Mercedes, said the plant in Tuscaloosa would operate while talks with the union continue.

"We remain committed to continuing negotiations in good faith and are hopeful that we can come to a resolution soon," a ZF spokesperson said in a statement.

Mercedes Benz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

UAW members are also on a separate strike at three plants operated by the Detroit Three automakers - Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis - demanding better contracts from the companies. (Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

CLASS WAR

UAW president: Economy ‘enriches people like Donald Trump’ at workers’ expense

Joe Jacquez
Tue, September 19, 2023


United Auto Workers (UAW) president Shawn Fain made it clear he doesn’t approve of former President Trump’s trip next week to Detroit amid the union’s ongoing strike against the Big Three automakers.

“Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement to CNN.

The Hill has reached out to Fain and UAW.

As workers continue to stand on the picket line, demanding wage increases and benefits from Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, Trump will deliver prime-time remarks to current and former union workers in Detroit instead of attending the second Republican presidential primary debate Sept. 27.

Trump, who won Michigan narrowly in 2016 but lost the state in 2020, may attempt to appeal to union workers, a critical voting block for President Biden and Democrats. But Fain said UAW’s message directly contrasts with who Trump is and what he represents.

Union workers have long been seen as a key cog of the Democratic base, but polling from the last presidential election indicates these voters may be shifting allegiances.

While Biden garnered the most votes from union households (56 percent) compared to 40 percent for Trump, according to exit polling by CNN, Trump won the support of workers with less than a college degree in 2016 and again in 2020, by 7 and 8 percentage points respectively, according to The Pew Research Center.

Biden has repeatedly claimed he is the most pro-union president, but Fain has yet to endorse the president, saying last week that endorsements have to be earned and members need to see “actions not words,” from Biden.

“Our endorsements are going to be earned. We’ve been very clear about that, no matter what politician.”

Fain’s decision not to endorse Biden is driven by concerns about federal electric vehicle (EV) policies. The Biden administration has pushed for an industry shift to EVs, which require fewer workers to make, and the concern is how such a transition could impact workers jobs and pay.

Trump says he always had autoworkers' backs. Union leaders say his first-term record shows otherwise

UAW strike keeping Big 3 automakers 'on their toes': Journalist


JOEY CAPPELLETTI and MICHELLE L. PRICE
Thu, September 21, 2023 

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — When former President Donald Trump visits Detroit next week, he’ll be looking to blunt criticisms from a United Auto Workers union leadership that has said a second term for him would be a “disaster" for workers.

Trump will bypass the second Republican presidential debate on Sept. 27 to instead visit striking autoworkers in Michigan, where he has looked to position himself as an ally of blue-collar workers by promising to raise wages and protect jobs if elected to a second term.

But union leaders say Trump's record in the White House speaks for itself. Union leaders have said his first term was far from worker-friendly, citing unfavorable rulings from the nation’s top labor board and the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as unfulfilled promises of automotive jobs. While the United Auto Workers union has withheld an endorsement in the 2024 presidential race, its leadership has repeatedly rebuffed Trump.

Nevertheless, Trump plans to speak directly to a room of former and current union members. A Trump campaign radio ad released Tuesday in Detroit and Toledo, Ohio, praised auto workers and said the former president has “always had their back.”

Not everyone thinks so. Despite Trump's history of success in courting blue-collar workers in previous elections, union leaders say their members would do well to believe their own eyes.

“Just look who Trump put in the courts," said Dave Green, the UAW regional director for Ohio and Indiana. “Look at his record with the labor relations board. He did nothing to support organized labor except lip service.”

The National Labor Relations Board, which enforces the country’s labor laws and oversees union elections, came under Republican control during the Trump administration for the first time since 2007. The board reversed several key Obama-era rulings that made it easier for small unions to organize, strengthened the bargaining rights of franchise workers and provided protection against anti-union measures for employees.

In 2017, the Trump-era board reversed a decision holding employers responsible for labor violations by subcontractors or franchisees. In 2019, the board gave a boost to companies that use contract labor, such as Lyft and Uber, by emphasizing “entrepreneurial opportunity” in determining a worker’s employment status, making organizing harder.

Mark McManus, president of the plumbers and pipefitters union, said in a statement Tuesday that Trump “tried to gut” the labor relations board under his administration “to undo the safeguards that protect working families.” Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber told The Associated Press in an emailed statement that the board was stacked with “anti-worker appointees who trampled on collective bargaining rights.”

The union leaders also point to unfavorable U.S. Supreme Court rulings under a conservative majority that grew during Trump's term. The nation's high court has dealt a number of blows to unions, most recently ruling against unionized drivers who walked off the job with their trucks full of wet cement, allowing a civil suit against them to go forward.

In 2018, the court’s conservative majority overturned a decades-old pro-union decision involving fees paid by government workers. The justices in 2021 rejected a California regulation giving unions access to farm property so they could organize workers.

“If you’re appointing conservatives to the court, you’re often appointing people who relate to the preference for business or property owners or shareholders, more than the preference of stakeholders like workers," said Peter Berg, a professor of labor relations at Michigan State University.

As president, Trump largely sat on the sidelines during a 40-day walkout at a General Motors plant in 2019.

Still, the Trump campaign vigorously defended his record as pro-worker.

“President Trump has always been on the side of American workers,” his campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.

Cheung responded to the criticisms from labor leaders with a long list of economic gains and policies from Trump's time as president, ranging from the surging stock market to low unemployment. He cited Trump's broad push to remove regulations and abandon or renegotiate trade deals as beneficial to American workers across a range of industries.

Republicans have long tried to position themselves as being anti-union while remaining pro-worker. The party has branded itself as being for “the working class” while attacking organized labor, which has supported the Democratic Party for decades.

Trump has used a similar tactic in an effort to separate workers from a UAW leadership that endorsed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 and that has attacked Trump since. In a recent campaign video addressed to autoworkers, Trump encouraged them not to pay union dues and claimed union leaders have “got some deals going for themselves.” Trump also claimed he would raise their wages and protect their jobs.

Job growth figures in the auto industry during Trump's presidency contradict his claim that the industry thrived under his watch. The total number of auto manufacturing jobs in Michigan, which holds the most automotive jobs in the U.S., stayed even during Trump’s presidency.

In Ohio, the number of auto manufacturing jobs grew by fewer than 2,000 jobs during Trump's four years in the White House. But Green, the UAW director, said some communities that had backed Trump in 2016 were abandoned by him. He pointed to Lordstown, Ohio, an area that Trump won by a significant margin in 2016 and where Green previously served as the local UAW president.

In 2017, during a visit to the region, Trump pledged that jobs there were “all coming back” and implored residents to stay put. A year later, General Motors announced the closure of its Lordstown plant, one of the largest employers in the area.

“The guy came to my community and flat out lied to everybody,” Green said last week. “Banks were closing, schools were shutting down. I wrote the guy two letters, and he didn’t even reply.”

AP VoteCast shows that in the 2020 presidential election, Trump was the choice of 62% of white voters without a college degree, whereas Biden won the vote of 37% in this group. Biden performed better than Trump did among union members, receiving 56% of union members’ votes in the 2020 election, compared with Trump’s 42%.

Trump hopes in 2024 to win back the support of union-friendly states such as Michigan, which became the first in nearly 60 years to repeal a union-restricting law known as “right-to-work.” It's one of three Rust Belt states along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that broke for Democrats but where Trump narrowly won in 2016, carrying him into the White House. He lost those states to Biden in the 2020 election.

—-

Price reported from New York. AP Polls and Surveys reporter Linley Sanders contributed from Washington.

Americans’ support for UAW strike ticks upward: survey

Julia Shapero
Tue, September 19, 2023 


Americans’ support for the United Auto Workers (UAW) union’s strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis has ticked upward since workers walked out Friday, according to a new survey.

The new poll from Morning Consult found that 54 percent of U.S. adults said they support the strike against the so-called Big Three automakers, up from 51 percent in a poll conducted prior to the strike last week.

The share of Americans who said they were unsure about the strike also rose slightly from 26 percent to 28 percent, while the portion who said they oppose the strike fell from 23 percent to 18 percent.

Americans also reported being more aware of and more concerned about the UAW strike in the latest survey. Fifty-four percent said they had heard “a lot” or “some” about the strike, and 49 percent said they were concerned about the standoff between the union and the auto giants.

Both numbers represent a significant jump from last week’s poll, in which 42 percent said they had heard about the strike and 39 percent said they were concerned.

However, despite a boost in support for the strike overall, support for UAW’s various demands has fallen.

Forty-nine percent of U.S. adults in the new poll said they support the union’s request for a 40 percent pay raise over the next four years, down from 53 percent a week earlier. Support for UAW’s demand for a shortened workweek similarly fell from 46 percent to 41 percent between the two surveys.

The union launched its strike against the Big Three automakers early last Friday, calling on workers at plants near St. Louis, Mo., outside Detroit, Mich., and in Toledo, Ohio, to walk out.

UAW President Shawn Fain warned on Tuesday that more workers would be directed to walk out this Friday at noon if no “serious progress” has been made on negotiating a contract.

The latest Morning Consult survey was conducted Sept. 16-17 with 2,200 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

General Motors delivers hard-nosed message to UAW workers

The automaking giant is talking tough about worker wages.

TODD CAMPBELL
SEP 20, 2023 6:36 PM EDT

The United Auto Workers (UAW) wish list for striking workers is long, but pay is one of the stickiest points when negotiating a deal with General Motors (GM) - Get Free Report, Ford Motors (F) - Get Free Report, and Stellantis (STLA) - Get Free Report.

The UAW is on record asking for wage increases of 40%, saying record profits at the big three demand a record contract. That's a big ask that could cause the strike to continue and potentially escalate.

General Motors' President Mark Reuss on Sept. 20 penned an op-ed for the Detroit Free Press that took aim at claims its profitability gives it the financial firepower necessary to bump up wages significantly.

WENTZVILLE, MISSOURI - SEPTEMBER 15: GM workers with the UAW Local 2250 Union strike outside the General Motors Wentzville Assembly Plant on September 15, 2023 in Wentzville, Missouri. In the first time in its history the United Auto Workers union is on strike against all three of America’s unionized automakers, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, at the same time. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)
Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images

The stakes are high for workers and automakers

Auto workers made concessions during the Great Financial Crisis to help U.S. carmakers stay afloat. Following years of improving profitability, they're looking for GM, Ford, and Stellantis to bridge the gap between worker wages and rising inflation-related costs.

A return to pensions that were dismantled for new workers during the Great Recession, a shorter 32-hour workweek, and cost-of-living increases are included on striking auto workers' wish lists. Getting the Detroit Big Three to sign off on those demands would be hard enough without the demand for a significant bump up in pay.

UAW's President Shawn Fain argues that automakers' profits over the past few years put them in a position to pay higher wages and still make money. However, GM's Reuss argues that paying for wages would come at the expense of investments that allow General Motors to compete in a market experiencing significant change because of the shift from traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to electric vehicles (EV).

"If we don’t continue to invest, we will lose ground — quickly. Our competitors across the country and around the world, most of whom are non-union, will waste no time seizing the opportunity we would be handing them," wrote Reuss.

Those competitors include Tesla (TSLA) - Get Free Report, the largest U.S. EV company, with a market share of 62%. GM's EV market share totals below 5%. EVs currently represent about 7% of the total vehicles sold in the U.S. However, they're expected to increase to over one-quarter of all vehicles by 2026.

If GM hopes to capture its fair share of that market opportunity, it will need to spend a lot of money developing, manufacturing, and selling new models over the next few years.

"Those record profits are reinvested in our company and our people. In 2022, GM had net income profits of $9.9 billion. In 2023, our capital spending will be $11-$12 billion. That’s not an aberration ― over the past ten years, our net income totaled $65 billion, and the amount we invested in that same period? $77 billion," says Reuss.

General Motors is offering striking workers a 20% pay increase to continue making those investments. It believes that's a very competitive offer, particularly given the company's existing pay.

"About 85% of current represented employees would earn a base wage of approximately $82,000 a year. In contrast, the average median household income in nine areas where GM has major assembly plants is $51,821. And total compensation for the 85% of the workforce, with overtime and benefits, would be more than $150,000 a year," says Reuss.

Reuss suggests that GM's offer balances rewarding employees and maintaining the financial flexibility necessary to avoid losing market share to Tesla, Toyota (TM) - Get Free Report, Honda (HMC,) - Get Free Report and others.

The sooner a deal is struck with workers, the less likely it is that General Motors will need to delay its initiatives, potentially paving the way for others to outmaneuver it.

"As the past has clearly shown, nobody wins in a strike. We have delivered a record offer. That is a fact. It rightly rewards our team members, while positioning the company for success in the future," says Reuss.

Unifor, UAW chose different bargaining strategies. 1 has a deal. The other doesn’t.

Jamie L. LaReau, Detroit Free Press
Thu, September 21, 2023 

Unifor National President Lana Payne spent a hectic day Wednesday in meetings after her victory late the night before. That's when Payne and the union that represents some 5,000 Ford autoworkers in Canada reached a tentative agreement for a new contract with the automaker.

This happened with little fanfare, but it brought relief to many across the Detroit River as the Detroit automakers averted a strike on top of the one going on in the States.

Payne, the first woman to serve as Unifor's president, had won a contract by following tradition. She chose a target company, in this case Ford, to bargain with first and get a tentative agreement. If members ratify that deal, Unifor will use it as a template with General Motors and Stellantis for contracts with them. It's called pattern bargaining.

Payne's negotiating style is noticeable for its tradition and its subtlety by comparison with her U.S. counterpart, UAW President Shawn Fain. For the first time in decades, the UAW refused to pick a target company to pattern bargain with and has filled the airwaves across mainstream media and social media with brash rhetoric and an unusual, targeted strike strategy against all three automakers at once.

The details of the Unifor deal with Ford have not been publicly released and the UAW is still without a tentative agreement, so it's hard to conclude whether Unifor's bargaining tactics were more effective. But according to a report in the Windsor Star, Unifor Local 200 President John D'Agnolo said, "This deal is historic." D’Agnolo was chair of the union's Ford master bargaining committee.

“This is going to change lives in all aspects of our membership," he told the paper. “We got gains in absolutely everything. Never in my years as a leader, did I ever think we’d get to this level.”

When the details are released to members Saturday, labor experts will be paying close attention to the outcome there as well as with the UAW whenever it gets a tentative agreement.

"What might look weaker today might be stronger tomorrow. If Canadian workers get less on paper but more in their pockets because they lost no pay striking and keep their jobs longer, are they weaker or smarter?" said Erik Gordon, labor expert and business professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. "Unifor showed it is possible to get an improved contract by focusing on negotiation more than angry rhetoric and made-for-TV theater."

Conceding to 'big ticket items'

The UAW declined to comment on the union's chosen negotiation style for this article.

But Payne told the Free Press, "Unifor has always charted our own course in negotiations, including with the Detroit Three. We chose a strategy that we felt was the best for us to be able to deliver gains on the core priorities of our members, Canadian autoworkers.”

Gordon believes Unifor's resolution will put pressure on the UAW's leadership to make progress for its members more quickly.

Fain has been doing that by ratcheting up pressure on GM, Ford and Stellantis. He has threatened that if the companies do not make "substantive progress" in negotiations by noon Friday, he will expand the strike beyond the three plants it is currently striking: Ford's Michigan Assembly in Wayne, GM's Wentzville Assembly in Missouri and Stellantis' Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio.

Erika Mitchell, 36, of Toledo, Ohio, center, stands with skilled trade workers for gate 7 during a UAW strike outside of the Chrysler Toledo Assembly Plant in Toledo, Ohio on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023.

But to get a deal means different things for each union. For example, the local economy is one factor. In Canada there is national health care so that issue is of less cost to carmakers and less concern to workers than it is stateside.

"It remains to be seen which (strategy) is most effective. The proof is in the pudding," said Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University. "Fain's strike strategy may work or it could backfire. It could delay having an impact on the companies and turn opinion against it, or it could gradually cause the companies to concede more to get a deal."

Masters said the UAW and the automakers are currently "too far apart on key items to make a deal possible, and nothing but a prolonged highly impactful strike that changes the companies' calculus is likely to cause them to concede these big-ticket items" such as retiree health care, defined benefit pensions, jobs banks, cost-of-living adjustments and a 32-hour workweek for 40 hours pay.
Canada used to be the militant one

Canada's union had been part of the UAW at one time, but it split off in the 1980s and formed the Canadian Auto Workers union. In 2013, it became Unifor when it merged with the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

"They split from the UAW because they viewed the UAW as not militant enough and forceful enough with management," said Harley Shaiken, professor emeritus and labor expert at University of California, Berkeley. "So they were viewed for years as the more militant partner."

In fact, four years ago when GM said it would permanently close its Oshawa Assembly plant in Ontario, then-Unifor National President Jerry Dias used a combination of in-your-face tactics, then toned-down cooperative rhetoric to ultimately get GM to reverse its decision. Today, some 2,600 employees at Oshawa build heavy-duty and light-duty Chevrolet Silverado pickups.

In August of last year, Payne was elected Unifor's new national president after Dias retired. She had been the union's national secretary-treasurer.

"This new leadership is experienced and really has the confidence of the membership," Shaiken said. "Lana Payne does not come out of auto but she has worked with people who are from auto."

And Unifor's needs are strikingly different from the UAW membership's, he said. Its priority is getting new investment from the international automakers, especially U.S. automakers.

"So they want to have a constructive relationship with the U.S. automakers even when they sharply disagree over a demand in contract negotiations," Shaiken said. "The disagreements are real, but the rhetoric has been quieter for that very reason.”
The Fain effect

To understand the UAW's aggressive style, one must consider Fain's rise to his position and the politics around it.

Sharon Block, executive director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School and former Biden administration official, noted that Fain is the first UAW president to be elected by a direct membership election, rather than by delegates. Fain won earlier this year by a narrow margin in a runoff election.

From left, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, and UAW President Shawn Fain at a rally led by United Auto Workers outside the UAW-Ford Joint Trusts Center in Detroit on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023.

"As a result, we’re seeing a different strike strategy than the UAW has ever used before," Block said in a statement.

Put another way, "Payne has nothing to prove to her members," said U-M's Gordon. "Fain acts as if he has to prove to his members that he is as tough as he said he would be in the election that he barely won."

Factor in the fact that the union is in the midst of the auto industry's transformational change to electric vehicles and eventually phasing out gasoline-powered cars.

"The strike is the union’s call to have a voice in how that transformation happens," Harvard's Block said. "They don’t want to stop change — but they want their interests, not just the interests of the companies, to be considered as that change happens. That desire to have some voice in the future will resonate a lot with many workers outside the auto industry."

The UAW's mission and likely outcome

Also, there is underlying anger of the membership over what were to be temporary concessions handed to the car companies years ago during turbulent economic times, which have now become permanent losses. One of those things was the cost-of-living adjustment, which would give wage increases throughout the life of the contract to match inflation.

The UAW is attempting to win back COLA and spur changes to the entire system for all middle class workers, not just autoworkers, said Art Wheaton, director of Labor Studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Art Wheaton, director of Labor Studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

"The demands are much more aggressive and reflect some built-up anger from the government funded bankruptcies from 2009," Wheaton said. "Now that profitability has improved, they are trying to win back major gains and set the example for other unions and workers to follow."

Even if the UAW falls well short of initial contract demands, the union should still end up with significant improvements to wages and benefits, Wheaton said.

"The hard part will be getting the bargaining team to reach a deal they can get ratified by the membership," Wheaton said. "Unifor believes they have done so. The progress at Ford, GM and Stellantis may not be as smooth in the USA. I anticipate Ford getting a deal done very soon using some of the lessons learned in Canada with Unifor."

Shaiken said while pattern bargaining has been used effectively many times since World War II, it is only as effective as the leadership, the membership and the goals of the negotiations.

"Pattern bargaining has gotten terrific contracts," Shaiken said. "And, at times, it has failed in a weak economy or when slow auto sales undermined the gains."

Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. 

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Unifor, Ford deal followed contract tradition as UAW strike continues

Tim Scott gives baffling response to auto workers strike: ‘You’re fired’

Ariana Baio
Wed, September 20, 2023 

GOP presidential candidate Tim Scott claims auto workers should be fired for striking

In his pursuit of the White House, Republican candidate Tim Scott is weighing in on current issues like the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike to try to prove to voters that he would make a good president.

However, Mr Scott may have stumbled over his understanding of the strike while speaking with potential voters in Iowa on Monday – claiming they were federal workers who should be fired for striking.

Calling on the likeness of Ronald Reagan, Mr Scott said if he were president he would be dealing with the strikers in a much different manner.

“I think Ronald Reagan gave us a great example when federal employees decided they were going to strike. He said, ‘you strike, you’re fired,’” Mr Scott said.

Mr Scott was referring to the 1981 Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike when Mr Reagan fired approximately 11,000 air traffic controllers.

“Simple concept to me,” Mr Scott said adding that he would “absolutely” implement that same policy “to the extent that we can use that once again.”

Seemingly, the South Carolina senator and 2024 candidate was trying to depict his hard-line approach to being pushed around by federal employees.

UAW members began a targeted strike last week to seek 40 per cent pay increases over four years, restoration of traditional pensions, elimination of compensation tiers, cost-of-living adjustments as well as a 32-hour work week.

However, Mr Scott may have confused some of the circumstances surrounding the 1981 strike with the ongoing UAW strike.



UAW members are not federal employees therefore the president cannot fire them.

Also, federal labour laws forbid employers from interfering or restraining union members from working together to improve terms and conditions of employment.

Mr Scott went on to criticise federal funding for union pensions, claiming President Joe Biden is “leased by unions” and overpromising union members while underdelivering.

“[The federal government] keep making these deals and as a result of the deal they promise too much, deliver too little and the taxpayers pick up the tab,” Mr Scott said referring to Mr Biden’s American Rescue Plan which allocated several billion dollars for certain pension plans

On Wednesday, Mr Scott clarified his statements regarding Mr Reagan and firing the UAW workers, at an event in New Hampshire.

“Obviously the president doesn’t fire folks in the private sector, but he can do in the public sector,” Mr Scott said. “I brought up the Ronald Reagan years because I do think that we need to have front and center the example of a president who stood strong and today’s president, he stands weak.”


UAW files complaint against Tim Scott over threats to fire workers if they strike

Nick Robertson
Thu, September 21, 2023 


Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is in the crosshairs of the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike after he suggested that striking workers should be fired.

UAW President Shawn Fain filed a complaint against the presidential candidate with the National Labor Relations Board on Thursday, alleging that Scott violated the rights of his campaign staff by threatening their federally-protected right to strike.

The complaint, first reported by The Intercept, came after Scott came out against UAW’s strikes against the “Big Three” automakers at an Iowa rally on Monday by invoking President Ronald Reagan’s response to federal air traffic controller strikes, saying “You strike, you’re fired.”

“I think Ronald Reagan gave us a great example when federal employees decided they were going to strike,” Scott said in Iowa. “He said, ‘You strike, you’re fired.’ Simple concept to me, to the extent that we can use that once again.”

The complaint alleges that his statement violates federal labor law in Scott’s capacity as an employer for his campaign, not as a sitting Senator.

Fain denounced Scott’s statements on Thursday.

“Just another example of how the employer class abuses the working class in America, employers willfully violate labor law with little to no repercussions,” he said. “Time for more stringent laws to protect workers rights!!”

The Hill has reached out to the Scott campaign for comment.

The historic UAW strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis is focused on demands for higher wages, shorter work weeks, union representation for battery plant workers and better retirement benefits — including restored pensions for new hires.

Strikes are expected to expand on Friday after Fain threatened more workers will join picket lines if negotiation progress isn’t made.

“Our members have been clear about their demands, and we know the companies can afford to make things right. Record profits mean record contracts,” Fain said Tuesday. “We’ve been available 24/7 to bargain a deal that recognizes our members’ sacrifices and contributions to these record profits.”

The union strike strategy has called on only a few local facilities to strike at a time, with little to no notice. The strategy reserves strike funds and, as Fain said, is intended to “keep the companies guessing.”

The strikes are backed by the Biden administration, though controversy has erupted over whether President Biden — who branded himself as pro-union during his campaign — should show up and speak with striking workers. He made statements in support of the strikes last week.

“I believe they should go further. … Record corporate profits, which they have, should be shared by record contracts for the UAW,” Biden said.

Sen. Tim Scott Praises Reagan's Firing Of Strikers When Asked About UAW Walkout
Dave Jamieson
Tue, September 19, 2023 at 9:33 AM MDT·4 min read

An Iowa voter on Monday asked Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) whether he would insert himself into the United Auto Workers strike as president. The GOP presidential hopeful responded by praising Ronald Reagan’s firing of federal workers who went on strike.

“I think Ronald Reagan gave us a great example when federal employees decided they were going to strike. He said, ‘You strike, you’re fired.’ Simple concept to me,” Scott said to laughter. “To the extent that we can use that once again, absolutely.”

It’s actually not as simple a concept as Scott suggests.

Former President Ronald Reagan famously fired the air traffic controllers when their union, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, or PATCO, called a strike in 1981. The saga was a pivotal moment in U.S. labor relations, when the federal government signaled to corporate America that it was open season on unions. Private-sector collective bargaining has continued to decline since then.

The air traffic controllers were federal workers who didn’t have the legal right to strike or even to bargain over wages with their employer, though they were demanding raises. Reagan acted within his powers when he fired them. The thousands of controllers who participated in the strike were never allowed to return to their jobs.

‘You strike, you’re fired.’ Simple concept to me.Sen. Tim Scott

But the UAW strike, which has hit Ford, General Motors and Jeep parent company Stellantis, involves private-sector workers bargaining with private-sector employers. It is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act to fire workers for taking part in a lawful strike. So far, none of the “Big Three” have claimed that the auto worker strikes are unlawful.

A spokesperson for Scott said the candidate was not suggesting auto workers should be fired for striking.

“He was clearly talking about federal workers in that first exchange,” Matt Gorman, the spokesperson, said in an email. “Senator Scott repeatedly made clear, both at that event and others, that Joe Biden shouldn’t leave taxpayers on the hook for any labor deal.”

At the Iowa event, Scott said that President Joe Biden, the self-styled “most pro-union president” in history, is “leased by the unions,” if not “bought and paid for.”

The senator went on to criticize the decision by Biden and other Democrats to rescue defined-benefit pension plans as part of a nearly $2 billion coronavirus aid package in 2021. The plans ― negotiated over the years between unions and employers ― were on the brink of insolvency, and the move backstopped pension payments for an estimated one million workers and retirees.

Like other candidates, Sen. Tim Scott is trailing Donald Trump by double-digits in his run for the GOP presidential nomination.

Like other candidates, Sen. Tim Scott is trailing Donald Trump by double-digits in his run for the GOP presidential nomination.

“When they overpromise, taxpayers should not be on the hook,” Scott said. “They end up on the hook when the president negotiates and provides your dollars to their pensions even though you didn’t work for them.”

Scott also appeared to criticize the UAW for demanding large raises and a reduced work schedule as part of the negotiations.

“[T]hey want more money working fewer hours,” he said. “They want more benefits working fewer days. In America... that doesn’t make sense.”

The UAW workers are known legally as “economic strikers” ― they are demanding better pay and working conditions. They can’t be fired, but they can be replaced while they’re on strike. And in what unions consider a travesty of labor law, that replacement can become permanent. Once the strike is over, and if the worker hasn’t found similar work, he can apply for his old job as positions open up, but there is no guarantee he will return if a worker has taken his place.

It would be a difficult time for Ford, GM and Stellantis to find permanent replacements even if they wanted to. Workers would need to be trained to replace the strikers at the plants, and many employers are still having a hard time finding workers as it is. The unemployment rate is hovering near historic lows, at just 3.8%, despite voters’ gloomy outlook on the economy.

At this point, the UAW seems to have little fear of striking workers losing their jobs. The union has struck three plants so far ― one apiece for Ford, GM and Stellantis ― but has vowed to strike more if the companies don’t improve their offers. UAW President Shawn Fain said Monday that barring a settlement, more targets will be announced on Friday.

“We’re going to keep hitting the company where we need to, when we need to,” Fain said. “And we’re not going to keep waiting around forever while they drag this out.”

CLASS WAR

As UAW, Detroit 3 fight over wages, here's a look at autoworker pay, CEO compensation

Eric D. Lawrence and Jamie L. LaReau, 

USA TODAY
Wed, September 20, 2023 

Wages have been a big point of contention in ongoing UAW talks, with the union initially seeking a 40% pay increase and the automakers offering about half that percentage over the life of the next contract in their most recent proposals.

The union has said the wage request is tied to the percentage increase in CEO compensation over the last four years. The union has also pointed to the big increase in inflation, saying autoworker wages haven’t come close to keeping pace.

So what do United Auto Workers members make? A blog post in August on UAW contracts by Kristin Dziczek, a policy adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, put the top hourly production wage for UAW members at $32 an hour. It also put estimated hourly labor costs for the Detroit Three automakers for those workers, including benefits and bonuses, at an estimated $66 per hour this year.

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Autoworker wages in the US

The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the average hourly wage rate for all production and non-supervisory autoworkers in the United States at $27.99 per hour as of August. Hourly labor costs, including benefits and expenses, at non-union plants operated by Tesla and foreign transplants are also less than at the Detroit Three, from $45 to $55 per hour, according to recent Free Press reporting, a point that the companies tend to highlight.

Not all autoworkers at the Detroit Three come close to the top pay rate of $32 an hour. Temporary or supplemental workers make less. Stellantis, for instance, offered in one of its proposals during ongoing contract talks to raise the starting wage for its supplemental workers from $15.78 per hour to $20 per hour, and the company, which says it needs them to fill gaps caused by absenteeism, has thousands of such workers. Many supplemental workers make around $17 per hour, although the percentage of those making such wages across the industry isn't clear because that information isn't necessarily made public.

For permanent production workers who are said to be "in- progression" to top wages, the union wants to eliminate this so-called tiered system, which dates to 2007. It included lower starting pay and different benefits, such as a 401(k) retirement offering rather than a pension, for workers hired since that time. The range goes from about $18 an hour up to that top rate of $32, according to Marick Masters, a labor expert and business professor at Wayne State University.

Company proposals have included offers to reduce the number of years it takes to reach top pay for these workers from eight years to four. The union would also like to see supplemental workers rolled over to permanent status in a matter of months rather than allowing them to remain in that role for years in some cases.

UAW strike: What Biden's unwavering support for autoworkers in UAW strike says about the 2024 election

Detroit 3 CEO compensation

And as far as compensation to the CEOs − $29 million for GM’s Mary Barra, $21 million for Ford’s Jim Farley and $24.8 million for Stellantis in 2022, as the Free Press recently noted – they weren’t even the highest payout to an individual last year at the companies.

That honor appears to go to Mike Manley, the former head of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, who pocketed $54.1 million as part of an agreement inked before the 2021 merger that created Stellantis from FCA and Peugeot maker PSA Group. Manley left Stellantis in November 2021 to become CEO of AutoNation.

UNION EXECUTIVE WAGES

At the UAW, President Shawn Fain is expected to make the same amount in annual compensation as his predecessor Ray Curry, according to labor experts.

The UAW constitutional provisions on salaries for executive officers is reported in financial disclosure forms. Based on the 2022 LM-2 financial disclosure, Curry's base compensation that year was slightly over $219,000. If adding in bonuses and other benefits, it showed a total compensation of $267,000.

A spokesman for the UAW would not verify Fain's compensation when asked to do so by the Detroit Free Press.

United Auto Workers members strike at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant on September 16, 2023, in Wayne, Michigan.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Autoworker pay? Here's a look at UAW, CEO salaries amid strike

UAW strike puts spotlight on pay gap between CEOs and workers




Khristopher J. Brooks
Wed, September 20, 2023 

The United Auto Workers strike has entered Day 6 as union representatives and Detroit's Big Three remain at odds over wage increases.

UAW President Shawn Fain and other union leaders have argued that Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram — can afford to pay workers more money because the companies have sharply boosted CEO pay in recent years. Those pay increases have helped create an unreasonably high pay gap between CEOs and average workers, the UAW says.

"The reason we ask for 40% pay increases is because, in the last four years alone, the CEO pay went up 40%," Fain said on CBS News'"Face the Nation" Sunday. "They're already millionaires."

How much does an average UAW autoworker make—and how much do Big Three CEOs get paid?These are the vehicles most impacted by the UAW strikeUnited Auto Workers go on strike against Ford, GM, Stellantis

Ford CEO Jim Farley earned $21 million in total compensation last year, the Detroit News reported, which is 281 times more than typical workers at the company, according to Ford filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares made $24.8 million in 2022, according to the Detroit Free Press, roughly 365 times more than the average worker at Stellantis, SEC filings show. GM CEO Mary Barra earned nearly $29 million in 2022 pay, Automotive News reported, which is 362 times more than the typical GM worker.

Not unique to auto industry

While those ratios may seem staggering, they're not uncommon, according to Michael Dambra, an accounting and law professor at University at Buffalo.

"It's right in line with what's been happening in the past three or four years," Dambra told CBS News.

Triple-digit pay gaps between a CEOs and workers are also not unique to the auto industry, Dambra and other experts say.

Back in the '60s and '70s, company executives earned "somewhere between 20 and 30 times" regular employees, but "that's massively increased, particularly in the 2000s," said Dambra.

Factoring in the nation's 350 largest companies, the CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 20-to-1 in 1965, according to the Economic Policy Institute. That figure jumped to 59-to-1 in 1989 and 399-to-1 in 2021, EPI researchers said. The CEO-to-worker pay ratio for S&P 500 firms was 186-to-1 in 2022, according to executive compensation research firm Equilar.

Compensation for CEOs "unlimited"

That pay ratio continues to grow because CEOs are increasingly paid in stock awards. Companies often justify paying CEOs in stock by saying it aligns a corporate leader's financial incentives with the company's — ostensibly, the executive earn more if the company does well or hits certain targets.

But companies often boost CEO pay even when executives miss their targets, the left-leaning Institute for Policy Studies said in a 2021 report that identified 50 large companies that changed their executive compensation rules during the pandemic.

Barra told CBS News last week that 92% of her pay is based on GM's financial performance in a given year. She noted that employees' total pay is also tied to performance through profit-sharing bonuses.

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"The way that General Motors is set up, if the company does well, everyone does well," she said.

Although that may be broadly correct, employees' profit-sharing pay stops at a certain dollar amount, Dambra said, noting the $12,000 cap the UAW and automakers had in their now-expired contract. Barra's pay structure doesn't have a cap, "so essentially compensation for Mary Barra is unlimited," he said.

"As stock performance improves and stock returns go up, the share-based compensation she gets is uncapped — it's exponential, unlimited growth," Barra said.