{"id":4049,"date":"2023-11-20T13:49:45","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T18:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=4049"},"modified":"2023-11-20T14:08:30","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T19:08:30","slug":"uaws-recent-strike-harkened-back-to-1945","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-41-no-9\/uaws-recent-strike-harkened-back-to-1945\/","title":{"rendered":"UAW\u2019s recent strike harkened back to 1945\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"UAW
Photo credit: ABC News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November 21, 2023 —<\/em> On November 21, 1945, the United Automobile Workers (UAW) organized 320,000 workers over 96 plants across the nation in a strike against General Motors (GM). The union demanded wage increases of 30 percent and a hold on product prices. The strike lasted 113 days — the longest ever action against a major manufacturer for the UAW and the longest national GM strike in its history.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The strike started almost as soon as World War II ended. Unions made a promise to not strike during the war, but when Germany and Japan surrendered, auto companies slowed production and raised prices to make up for their lost government contracts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The post-war strike was led by Walter Reuther, director of the UAW\u2019s General Motors Department and the coordinator for union relations with General Motors. Under Reuther\u2019s leadership, the union put pressure on GM\u2019s manufacturing plants by striking at plants across the country \u201cone-at-a-time,\u201d until all were striking at once.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even before the strike began, Reuther held the idea that due to corporate greed, Americans could not afford to purchase goods and there would be limited investment in infrastructure and rebuilding communities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is my determined belief that there can be no permanent prosperity so long as the controls of production remain in the hands of a privileged minority,\u201d said Reuther.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The targeted UAW strikes at the Big Three automakers that ended on Oct. 30, 2023, were similar to Reuther\u2019s blueprint 78 years ago. UAW and Reuther believed that with technological advancements coming to the production line, corporations would begin to maximize profits while cutting jobs, driving up prices as a result.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2023 UAW strike, led by President Shawn Fain, took the fight to Ford and Stellantis (Crysler) as well as GM. Fain, much like Reuther before him, held similar ideas about the UAW and corporate automakers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs companies kept making more and more money, and workers weren\u2019t seeing anything get better, obviously it drove workers to not be happy with what\u2019s going on,\u201d Fain said in an interview with <\/span>The Intercept<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

UAW\u2019s demands this year were similar to the 1945 strike: Workers wanted better wages to offset higher prices, an end to the underpayment of new employees, and protections against plant closures, especially as technology changes the way plant employees work with new machinery geared for electric vehicle production.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

UAW also employed a \u201crolling strike\u201d strategy again, starting with workers walking off the assembly line at Ford\u2019s Michigan plant in Wayne, Michigan, then Stellantis employees in Toledo, Ohio, followed by GM workers in Wentzville, Missouri. <\/span>At the height of the strike, over 45,000 UAW workers from 46 plants were walking picket lines.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The result of the labor actions in both 1945 and 2023 amounted to an overall positive for auto workers. In 1945, UAW secured a 17.5 percent hourly wage increase, but not the ability to set product pricing. This year, the tentative 4.5-year agreement, lasting through to April 30, 2028, includes wage increases of 25 percent, but union negotiators did not achieve the 32-hour workweek they wanted. As of November 20, 2023<\/span>, the new contract has been ratified by the membership.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November 21, 2023 — On November 21, 1945, the United Automobile Workers (UAW) organized 320,000 workers over 96 plants across the nation in a strike against General Motors (GM). 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