Since UAW President Shawn Fain came into office, he has been popping up everywhere, like the energizer bunny. This week, that trend continues when Fain will speak at the Democratic National Convention, along with many other union leaders. He’s in so many places it’s surprising that jokes do not abound about him possibly being a robot. Speaking of which, androids are on the topic list today, so here is a UAW update, including strikes, layoffs, and robotic automation in the workplace:
- Volkswagen Chattanooga and UAW have scheduled first-contact negotiations, which are set to begin in 6-8 weeks, four months after the union’s victory at the Tennessee plant.
- At a Mississippi Nissan plant, where the UAW lost in 2017 amid the initial fallout of the union’s mega-corruption scandal, workers are reportedly considering another effort at unionization after watching Detroit Big Three negotiations and the April UAW win in Chattanooga. This new organizing round is heating up despite the UAW’s shattering loss at Mercedes’ Alabama plant that slowed union momentum and appeared to stall a campaign at a Hyundai plant in Alabama.
- UAW members at Cornell University have begun an August 19 strike during move-in week before the fall semester. According to the union, “1,200 custodians, groundskeepers, cooks, food service workers, greenhouse workers, gardeners, mechanics” are on the picket line.
- Dakkota Integrated Systems workers at a Chicago parts plant are entering their third week of picketing. At the facility, serving a nearby Ford plant, 450 striking workers overwhelmingly rejected a tentative agreement that didn’t include the wage increases and changes in working conditions that the union had promised.
- Stellantis will soon lay off 2,000+ workers at its Warren Truck plant in Michigan after Ram 1500 Classic truck production ends. The automaker will shift some of that focus in favor of the Ram 1500 Tradesman truck at the Sterling Heights Assembly plant. Fain has aired his displeasure about the layoffs, although, as we’ve previously discussed, unions cannot protect workers from layoffs despite their promises on the subject. Workers are preparing grievances and threatening to strike over the changes.
BMW recently announced the completion of trial runs for humanoid robots at a Spartanburg, South Carolina plant, where the robots could eventually, according to a press release from the automaker, “save employees from having to perform ergonomically awkward and tiring tasks.” This Spartanburg plant is high on the UAW’s list of plants for its ongoing quest to organize the South, including 13 automakers where the union has targeted 150,000 auto workers.
Mercedes-Benz also recently began beefing up its production lines by introducing Apollo robots that “feature human-like faces.”
Both news items show automakers could safeguard their future bottom line while anticipating higher labor costs due to unionization. Analysts also recently predicted that robots will be introduced in “dozens” of battery factories and EV plants with plans to “replac[e] workers as they retire, rather than displacing swaths of their current workforce.”
Since we’re approaching a presidential election that will impact labor law, we will end with an obligatory mention of politics: the UAW has officially endorsed Kamala Harris. This might be the least shocking piece of labor news this year. However, it’s a subject that will keep on giving as election season wears on.
