For years now, the big majority of strikes occur when the old contract expires. No major national contracts have expired since November, so there simply have not been opportunities for new strikes. However, a number of major contracts are due to expire this year.
Corporate leaders have undoubtedly been keeping a close watch on the rise in working-class combativity in recent months, and they will be devising their own strategies to contest any shift in the balance of class forces that has suited them so well in the previous decades.
Fain expressed his hope that the union’s victory will be, “a turning point in the class war that’s been raging in this country for the past 40 years.” The contracts are consciously timed to expire on April 30, 2028. This means that the next strike could be on May Day, the international day of workers solidarity. All this is new ground in the American labor movement.
The union leadership has called for the Ford workers to return to work as quickly as possible. The picket lines are down. It will take a little time for the skilled trades to get the line and machinery up and running again. But the union has called for a prompt return to work.
On October 17, the United Auto Workers’ strike passed its thirty-third day. There are three new points that should be focused on. They are the decision to strike Kentucky Truck, Bill Ford’s attempt to do an end-run around the union leadership, and the mounting repercussions of the strike.
Even though the strike is continuing, the union has already made significant progress at the bargaining table. Most importantly, on October 6, General Motors agreed that future production of batteries for electric vehicles would be done by UAW members.
The mood of the strikers continues to be high. Chanting is frequent. There is constant honking by passing trucks and cars. The picket lines are well organized with captains, food and water tents, and all the other necessary supplies. Members of other unions are greeted warmly. Strikers are well briefed on the major objectives of the union at the bargaining table. The union’s escalating Stand UP strike strategy seems to be popular.
The strikers’ mood is upbeat. A September 23 rally organized by UAW Local 551 at the Chicago Ford Assembly Plant is a good example of this. Workers, in their bright red UAW T-shirts, took part in a call and refrain chant. The organizer would call out the name of a section of the plant: trim, paint, etc. The workers would then respond, “Strike It Out!” It was clear at the rally careful preparations had been made if the plant was chosen to strike in the escalating strike program.
The UAW now has the opportunity—perhaps its last—to revive the class struggle, which is the only way to begin to reverse the balance of class forces weighted so heavily in favor of the employers for so long.
“Even a plurality of voters who have an unfavorable opinion of labor unions (48%) support the strikes.”
Wages and adequate staffing are the central issues in the strike. These issues go hand in hand. Wages have to be high enough so that workers will want to stay at Loretto and not move to higher paying hospitals. With the recent state funding, management could certainly pay for the union demands.
On July 29th, our website posted an article by Adam Shills arguing that the contract is an important victory. Here we post a different point of view by Joe Allen, in an article that first appeared in CounterPunch.
Both trade union activists and the business press have been closely following the negotiations between UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) for some time. Then, on July 25, the big news came. The IBT had signed a tentative agreement with UPS. The purpose of this article is to explain what is in the new agreement and the attitude that socialists should take.
UPS has told management and supervisors to be at work in early August to handle a possible strike. So there may be some serious contingency planning behind the “win-win” veneer. Interestingly, UPS competitors, such as FedEx, are positioning themselves to sweep in and grab UPS customers if there is a strike.
Industrial strikes are rare enough today. So when two occur within a few months of one another and literally a few minutes’ walk from one another, it’s worth paying some attention. This is what’s happening in Bedford Park, an industrial suburb just south of Chicago.
