[ "Weve shown the world that this industry is harming workers and
consumers to the benefit of company executives and the rich—and its
time that the working class did something about it," said the UAW
president.]
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UAW LAUNCHES LARGEST UNION ORGANIZING DRIVE IN US HISTORY  
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Julia Conley
November 29, 2023
Common Dreams
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_ "We've shown the world that this industry is harming workers and
consumers to the benefit of company executives and the rich—and it's
time that the working class did something about it," said the UAW
president. _

United Auto Workers union members are seen rallying in a video the
union released on November 29, 2023 as part of a massive organizing
effort., (Photo: United Auto Workers)

 

Days after unionized workers at the Big Three automakers voted
to ratify
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contracts—secured
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United Auto Workers staged an innovative "stand up strike"
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weeks—the union made clear on Wednesday it has no plans to stop its
fight for economic justice for thousands of workers at car
manufacturing plants across the United States.

Urging all autoworkers in the U.S. to "stand up," the UAW launched
what pro-labor media organization _More Perfect Union_called 
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largest organizing drive in modern American history," aiming to bring
150,000 employees at 13 nonunion auto companies into the union.

The UAW announced its campaign with the launch of a new website
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pay at firms including Germany's Volkswagen and Mercedes; Japanese and
Korean manufacturers Toyota, Hyundai, and Mazda; and U.S. electric car
companies Tesla and Lucid.

At Toyota, for example, top executives have enjoyed a 125% increase in
pay as profits have soared 30% in the last decade—but the company is
firmly against unionization, offering a 9% raise to nonunion workers
shortly after the UAW secured its new contracts, which include a 25%
raise over the four-and-a-half year agreement.

Tesla, headed by the world's richest man, Elon Musk, has doubled its
U.S. production since 2020, but the company also remains staunchly
anti-union—and Mercedes' profits have grown by 200% in recent years,
but this year the company "spent $1.9 billion on stock buybacks
instead of sharing those record profits with their workforce," said
the UAW.

In a video posted on the union's website, UAW president Shawn Fain
urged workers at the 13 nonunion manufacturers to "stand up and win
[their] fair share."

"We've shown the world that this industry is harming workers and
consumers to the benefit of company executives and the rich—and it's
time that the working class did something about it," said Fain. "To
all the autoworkers out there working without the benefit of a union,
now it's your turn."

Fain said autoworkers from across the country have been reaching out
to the union since it began its stand up strike, in which workers at a
few auto plants at a time were called to join the work stoppage in
order to preserve the union's strike fund and gradually show the Big
Three the impact of the growing strike.

"We've lost so much since I started here, and the raise won't make up
for that," said Jeff Allen, a worker at Toyota's Georgetown plant in
Kentucky—one of several states where Republicans have passed
union-weakening "right-to-work" laws. "A union contract is the only
way to win what's fair."

Autoworkers across the U.S. "don't have to like paycheck to paycheck,"
Fain said in the video, emphasizing that "the money is there."

"You don't have to worry about how you're gonna pay your rent or feed
your family while the company makes billions," he added. "A better
life is out there. It starts with you—UAW."

_Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams._

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