Dear Sharra, Last night, the United Auto Workers began a historic strike against the Big Three automakers – General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis – representing 150,000 workers.
Auto workers are fighting for wage increases with cost-of-living adjustments, an end to the tiered employment system (which means some workers get lower pay and lesser benefits for the same work), better benefits, and a 32-hour work week.
While the media has called the UAW's demands unreasonable, CEO pay at the Big Three has increased by more than 40% over the last four years, and they spent $9 billion on stock buybacks just last year. At the same time, wages for autoworkers have decreased, taking inflation into account.
"People accuse us of waging class warfare," said new UAW leader Shawn Fain. "There's been class warfare going on in this country for the last forty years. The billionaire class has been taking everything and leaving everybody else to fight for the scraps."
And he is right.
Let me be clear: the UAW is doing exactly what needs to be done. The history of organized labor is a history of struggle, and I honor the struggle of the UAW today. The working class has unfortunately never gotten what it wants by asking politely.
All of us should stand in solidarity with the strikers if we stand for a fair economy. This fight is not only about auto workers – it's about how the entire American financial system has become systemically unjust. Our economy is now so tipped in the direction of an entitled wealth class that a thriving middle class America has become a thing of the past.
Again in the words of Fain:
"Living paycheck to paycheck, scraping by? That's hell. Choosing between medicine and rent? That's hell. Working seven days a week for twelve hours a day for months on end is hell. Having your plant close down and your family scattered all over the country is hell. Being made to work during a pandemic and not knowing whether you might get sick and die or spread the disease to your family is hell.
Enough is enough. It's time to decide what kind of world we want to live in and it's time to decide what we are willing to do to get it."
This statement is as aligned with the Marianne Williamson for President campaign as anything could be. |
I grew up at a time when the labor movement was strong and the Democratic Party stood strong at its side.
Nowadays, however, the Democratic Party has become split into two factions. The corporatist element of the party is very cozy with corporate interests, talking about supporting labor and yet - when push comes to shove, as with President Biden and the railroad companies – too often willing to enable overreach on the part of corporate forces.
I would never stop workers from going on strike. Organized labor would know that they had a friend in the White House. And I would do everything in my power – from supporting the PRO ACT and sectoral bargaining, to bolstering the NLRB – to aid them in their fight. If we want to successfully pass a progressive agenda that works for the working class, we need two major elements working together: organized labor and a progressive President who supports them. |
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