The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has said that it will not further expand its strike after winning a major breakthrough, bringing electric vehicle battery plants into the union\u2019s national contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a video appearance on Friday, UAW President Shawn Fain said that the decision would change the future of the union and the auto industry, and that further strike expansions would be momentarily paused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur strike is working, but we\u2019re not there yet,\u201d said Fain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The agreement would virtually guarantee that workers at the EV battery plant will be brought into the union fold, a concession that could prompt rivals to take similar steps, with strong implications for the form of labour arrangements undergirding the US transition away from fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis defines the transition to EVs,\u201d Harley Shaiken, labour professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told the Reuters news agency. \u201cClearly, GM\u2019s concession on the master agreement will positively be matched by Ford and Stellantis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a post on social media, David Dayen, editor of The American Prospect, an outlet that has closely followed the strike and labour developments within the industry, called the decision an \u201cenormous win for workers in the EV transition\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fate of the battery plants was seen as a substantial obstacle to a final agreement between the UAW and the \u201cDetroit Three\u201d automakers of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, the subjects of a nationwide strike that began in mid-September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGM has agreed to lay the foundation for a just transition,\u201d Fain said, adding the company had \u201cleapfrogged\u201d the pack in negotiations with the UAW. Fain added that progress had been made with Stellantis but that there were \u201cgaps that still need to be closed\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fain said that the change in position from GM, which had previously pushed back against demands to extend agreements to EV plants, came after the union threatened to expand the strike to a plant that makes highly profitable SUVs in Arlington, Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The union leader said that the strike could still be expanded to such lucrative plants if progress in talks stalls out. \u201cWe know their pain points. We know their moneymakers and we know the plants they really don\u2019t want struck,\u201d Fain said. \u201cAnd they know we\u2019ve got more cards left to play.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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