This month’s news from the manufacturing sector yields a true embarrassment of riches when it comes to fiascos from two unions who steer their members wrong:
- The United Steelworkers union recently touted a tentative 4-year contract with U.S. Steel. Yet the deal might not be so sweet after all. The National Right To Work Foundation (NRTW) published a video to explain the union’s practice of approving sham contracts without democratic approval from its members.
In the above-linked video, NRTW goes into detail about the Steelworkers Local involved in a case regarding an August 2022 contract ratification, which allegedly happened with the union admitting that it gives workers no right to approve or disapprove these agreements. These workers are trapped into paying union dues regardless of their position. NRTW’s brief on the situation can be viewed here.
- The United Auto Workers simply cannot adhere to the straight and narrow. The notoriously corrupt union would love for their headlines to revolve around their requested quickie election to represent 900 workers at a joint GM-LG battery plant in Ohio, but reality has other plans for incumbent president Ray Curry.
Surprise, the UAW’s first direct presidential election is not only potentially historic but also a mess with a fair election seemingly out of the question. UAW watchdog Neil Barofsky has already determined that Ray Curry’s campaign used union resources to campaign in violation of election rules.
Rank-and-file presidential candidate Will Lehman, a tiered Mack Trucks worker, alerted Barofsky to several other alleged Curry violations. This includes voter suppression that may be the overriding reason why only 8% of the total UAW membership has voted so far. According to Lehman, a substantial number of workers didn’t receive ballots and/or were informed of a false deadline. Lehman also contends that temp workers were falsely informed that they can’t vote.
The popular candidate requested that the vote deadline be extended past the current November 28 mark for another 30 days.
Lehman continues to gather endorsements, including a letter from GM Flint Truck Assembly workers and Marion Stamping Plant workers, who slammed the existing UAW bureaucracy. Lehman’s fellow Detroit Stellantis Mack Assembly workers also issued a scathing letter about the “rotten” existing leadership, which they accuse of keeping their wages below fast-food levels.
