The president of the Auto Workers union had harsh words for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a longtime foe of the union.
UAW President Shawn Fain said on CBS that workers at companies like Tesla “are struggling to make ends meet for greedy CEOs and Elon Musk.” Greedy people like Scott can build more rocket ships.” Facing the whole country Sunday program.
In a statement outlining its position, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Stellantis (collectively known as the “Big Three”) warned that the union’s demands would exacerbate an already existing cost gap with other auto companies with non-union workforces.
On Thursday, Ford said it would meet the UAW demands Labor costs doublehas been “significantly higher than the labor costs of Tesla, Toyota and other foreign automakers that use non-union represented labor in the United States.”
In response to these concerns, Fein claimed on cbs Labor costs account for only 5% of vehicle costs. “(Automakers) could double our wages without raising the price of the vehicles and still make billions of dollars in profits,” he said. The union president calls wages at Tesla and other companies “miserably low.”
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), whose district covers part of the Detroit area, echoed those concerns on cbs. “Tesla does have a huge disparity in how it pays its employees. Most people in this country can’t afford a Tesla,” she said, referring to the car’s high price.
But Dingell said a UAW victory could also help non-union workers. “Nearly all auto plant workers benefited from these negotiations,” she said.
What are auto workers demanding?
The UAW began targeted strikes on Friday at three plants in Missouri, Ohio and Michigan. The union said starting small would keep most members employed while leaving room for further upgrades.
Negotiations between the unions and the Big Three restarted over the weekend. UAW says it had ‘pretty productive discussions’ with Ford Saturday.
Ford said in a statement it was committed to reaching a deal with the unions Reuters Saturday.
Still, unions and automakers appear to be deeply divided. The UAW is currently asking for a 30% raise over the life of the new contract, down from the 40% increase it originally requested but still far short of the 20% maximum raise proposed by the automaker.
The union is also demanding other benefits, including a shorter work week and, more importantly, expanded benefits for electric vehicle plants. (Many of these factories are joint ventures with foreign companies and do not have unions).
The UAW president hopes to regain ground lost after the 2008 auto bailout, when workers agreed to give up long-term benefits to save auto companies from bankruptcy.
“All the problems at these companies are blamed on the workers,” Fein said. say on sundayrather than blaming “the bad decisions of the companies that put us in this situation.”
“For all the sacrifices we’ve made,” Fein argued, “after a decade of huge profits, workers have gone backwards.”
What about Tesla?
The UAW has long tried to organize workers at Tesla, which does not have a union.
In 2018, the union tried and failed to organize workers at the electric carmaker’s factory in Fremont, California.Later, the United Auto Workers Defendant Tesla Unlawfully interfering with union efforts, pointing to a tweet from CEO Elon Musk.
At the time, Musk asked why Tesla workers would “pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing” if they voted to join the United Auto Workers. The union claimed that if workers organize, they may interpret the Tesla CEO’s tweet as a threat to cancel stock options.
The National Labor Relations Board ordered Tesla to delete the tweet and rehire a Tesla employee who was allegedly fired for organizing the event.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is Evaluate now Order.
Musk continues to criticize the Auto Workers union on social media. “By the way, we pay more than the UAW but have higher performance expectations,” Musk said release He announced the news on Thursday on X, a social media platform he owns.
Yet industry data shows Tesla workers earn one-third less than their unionized counterparts. Tesla workers earn $45 an hour in wages and benefits, according to the company, while workers at factories represented by the UAW can earn up to $66 an hour. wall street journal Citing industry data.
Tesla employees do get stock options.Thursday Musk claim “Over the years, many of the technicians who work on the production lines at our plants have become millionaires through company stock grants.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to inquiries about compensation at the company.
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