{"id":245147,"date":"2023-07-10T17:06:52","date_gmt":"2023-07-10T21:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=245147"},"modified":"2023-07-10T17:07:01","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T21:07:01","slug":"uaw-skipping-ceremonial-handshake-to-start-contract-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2023\/07\/uaw-skipping-ceremonial-handshake-to-start-contract-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"UAW Skipping Ceremonial Handshake to Start Contract Talks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The much-anticipated contract talks between the United Auto Workers union and each of the Detroit Three automakers will be missing a customary component: the ceremonial handshake between the UAW president and each automaker\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gary Jones, president of the UAW, (left) offered the ceremonial handshake to Ford Chairman Bill Ford, to mark the opening of contract talks in 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

New UAW President Shawn Fain\u2019s been looking to shake things up between the union and the Detroit Three automakers since assuming the post earlier this year. A bit of a throwback, Fain\u2019s abandoning the longtime tradition looking to make a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The members come first,” UAW President Shawn Fain said Monday in a statement. “I’ll shake hands with the CEOs when they come to the table with a deal that reflects the needs of the workers who make this industry run. When the 150,000 autoworkers at Ford, GM, and Stellantis receive the respect they are due for their sacrifice in generating the historic profits of the past decade, then we can proceed with a handshake.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talks with Stellantis begin Thursday, followed by Ford on Friday and General Motors on July 18, according to the union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change is in the wind<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The move to skip the handshake is completely inline with Fain\u2019s militant approach, which is reminiscent of past tough talking UAW leaders like Stephen Yokich, Owen Bieber, Doug Fraser. However, recent union presidents have been less firebrand and more businessman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fain defeated incumbent Ray Curry<\/a><\/u><\/strong>, the candidate of the long-dominant Administration Caucus, in a runoff election in March. Curry is the first union president elected under new rules put in place after two previous presidents were convicted of crimes involving financial malfeasance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Handshakes and smiles have marked the opening of contract talks for decades \u2014 but not this year.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In all, a dozen top UAW executives were convicted of a variety of crimes, giving minority voices \u2014 like Fain\u2019s \u2014 the megaphone they needed to be heard by the union membership. During his campaign, Fain, who speaks with a distinctive Hoosier twang, ran on a platform distilled to the slogan, \u201cNo more corruption, no more tiers and no more concessions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the start, Fain wanted the union to carve out an independent and more militant path in bargaining, particularly with Detroit\u2019s automakers that are caught up in a historic transformation to electric vehicles. He also promised a new type of relationship with automakers, one that involved much less giving and much more getting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe now have a historic opportunity to get back to setting the standard across all sectors, and to transform the UAW into a member-led, fighting union once again, and we are going to take it. The future of the working class is at stake,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to expect<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Thus far, he\u2019s been a man of his word. He\u2019s been an equal opportunity \u201coffender,\u201d criticizing Ford, General Motors and Stellantis in equal measure since getting the top job. Taking a jab<\/a><\/u><\/strong> at known tough guy Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Past UAW President Bob King shakes hands with Ford Chairman Bill Ford to kick off labor talks. This time around, the process may be a little bumpy.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares thinks he can fly over here to threaten our members about product and absenteeism, that is a problem,\u201d said Fain, in reference to comments suggesting the shutdown of the company\u2019s plant in Belvidere, Illnois, happened due to the issue. \u201cWe had some very stern conversations with Stellantis last week.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since taking over as UAW president at the end of March, Fain noted he has meet with the senior management at both GM and Ford and described the initial meetings as \u201ccordial and respectful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI made it very clear; we expect our members not to get lost in the transition to electric vehicles,\u201d said Fain, adding job security, the elimination of wage tier and wage increases will be at the top of the union\u2019s list of demands this coming summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fain dismissed what he described as the narrative higher wages will make Detroit\u2019s carmakers less competitive with non-union companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur members deserve better,\u201d he said during the hourlong zoom meeting with the APA members in which he said he believes union members expect the UAW\u2019s leadership to take a harder line with employers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were elected to change things,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about being adversarial, it\u2019s about respect,\u201d added Fain, who said one of goals is rebuild the power of the \u201cworking class\u201d in the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New UAW President Shawn Fain\u2019s been looking to shake things up between the union and the Detroit Three automakers since assuming the post earlier this year. A bit of a throwback, Fain\u2019s abandoning a longtime tradition: the ceremonial handshake with each automaker\u2019s CEO. Find out why at TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4389,"featured_media":240802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[914,7,8,1164,905],"tags":[512,10292,11519,5913,6018],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245147"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4389"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245147"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":245156,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245147\/revisions\/245156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245147"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=245147"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=245147"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=245147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}