07.28.23

Durbin, Duckworth, Brown Urge Auto Companies To Include All Battery Plant Workers In National UAW Contract

The letter comes after Stellantis moved to idle its factory, which employed around 1,300 workers, in Belvidere in February

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), along with 25 of their Senate Democratic colleagues, called on the big three auto companies—General Motors, Stellantis, and Ford Motor Company—to negotiate in good faith to reach a fair outcome that folds in workers at all joint venture electric vehicle battery facilities into the national UAW contract.  They also underlined that the idling of the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois should never have happened in the first place. 

“Profits should translate to gains for workers. It is unacceptable that in the midst of extreme financial gains for the companies, executives, and investors, the workers making the electric vehicle batteries that will enable a transition to clean energy vehicles are making poverty-level wages. Before the expiration of UAW’s contract, we urge you to announce that all electric vehicle workers at these joint ventures will be folded into the national UAW contract,” wrote the Senators.

In addition to Durbin, Duckworth, and Brown, U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bob Casey (D-PA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) John Fetterman (D-PA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Peter Welch (D-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) signed the letter. 

The letter comes after Stellantis moved to idle its factory, which employed roughly 1,300 workers, in Belvidere in February.  

A copy of the letter can be found HERE or below: 

July 27, 2023

Dear Ms. Barra, Mr. Farley, Mr. Tavares, Mr. Eun, Dr. Rhee, and Mr. Chun:

As you engage in contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers (UAW), we urge you to negotiate in good faith to reach a fair outcome by agreeing to fold workers at all joint venture electric vehicle battery facilities into the national UAW contract. UAW workers have made General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Stellantis the successful, innovative, and profitable companies they are today, and workers in the new electric vehicle sector will be critical to your future success. They must share in the benefits of a union contract.

Through the passage of the historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the United States Congress made it clear that electric vehicle production, as well as its contributing supply chain, is a national priority industry. We were proud to support the legislation that made major investments in this American clean energy industry possible – we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to address the disrupting impact of climate change on American families, as well as ensure that the technologies of the future are designed and produced here in the United States by American workers with union contracts. We can and must do both.  

Though we can all agree that investments in electric vehicle production are necessary to outpace foreign competition, these investments are not a blank check on worker conditions. Department of Energy loans made possible by the IRA require the companies to create “good-paying jobs with strong labor standards…throughout the life of the loan.” 

In other words, high-tech electric vehicle manufacturing jobs should set the standard forwages and benefits for all American manufacturing jobs. These are highly-skilled, technical, and strenuous jobs. To that end, it is unacceptable and a national disgrace that the starting wage at any current American joint venture electric vehicle battery facility is $16 an hour. We note that at $33,320 a year, the starting wage at one of these facilities is just above the poverty level for a family of four. American workers, especially those working full time in 21st century state-of-the-art manufacturing, should not make poverty level wages. 

The starting wage at these electric vehicle facilities is particularly egregious in the face of the billions of dollars of profits GM, Stellantis, and Ford have made in the past 10 years. Between 2013 and 2022, General Motors and Ford Motor Company made over $100 billion and $75 billion in profit in North America, respectively. Stellantis announced almost $18 billion in profits in 2022 alone. This should, in theory, be great news. It is a testament to our economic resilience that profits are now well above pre-pandemic levels. But despite these impressive figures, General Motors and Stellantis have both announced plans to restart billion-dollar stock buyback programs rather than invest in their workers. In fact, in that same profitable 10 year period, GM, Ford and Stellantis have all closed or “idled” productive plants across the country, including the General Motors Lordstown Facility in Ohio and the Stellantis Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois. These closures should never have happened in the first place. 

Profits should translate to gains for workers. It is unacceptable that in the midst of extreme financial gains for the companies, executives, and investors, the workers making the electric vehicle batteries that will enable a transition to clean energy vehicles are making poverty-level wages. Before the expiration of UAW’s contract, we urge you to announce that all electric vehicle workers at these joint ventures will be folded into the national UAW contract.   

As a nation, we have once again bet on the American auto industry to continue to lead the global auto market into the future. We now expect you, in turn, to bet on American United Auto Workers to lead your future success. 

Sincerely, 

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