Despite President Joe Biden's insistence Monday that a strike against the "Big 3" auto manufacturers "is not going to happen," the militant rhetoric and attitude of United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain is pointing to the unprecedented strike by the Sept. 14 deadline.
"Fain is posturing as a Walter Reuther romantic," National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix told Newsmax, invoking the name of the UAW's longest-serving president (1946-1970) who led the union to embrace a decidedly progressive course.
Specifically, Fain is calling for wage increases for workers as high as 40% and cites the substantial raises in salary for the presidents of all three auto companies — Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, which includes the old Chrysler company, in the last few years.
In addition, the UAW chieftain has called for a 32-hour work week, improved benefits, and cost-of-living wage increases to deal with inflation.
Fain's negotiators are also insisting auto manufacturers pay furloughed workers if their plant closes.
So far, there is little sign that the Big 3 and the UAW are close to agreeing on any of these points.
"Here we are, 10 days out, and we've got a lot of work to do," Fain told reporters following Detroit's Labor Day Parade on Monday. "We went to talk about economics, and now [the auto companies] don't want to talk about economics, and it's just gamesmanship."
Stating that the auto companies "have dragged things out to the end … delay, delay, delay," Fain charged that there are "a lot of issues our workers have, and they haven't been addressed."
A strike against all three auto manufacturers would be unprecedented in U.S. history and undoubtedly devastating to the economy in the Midwest. A ten-day strike would cost the auto workers $859 million and the companies $989 million, economist Patrick Anderson told The New York Times Sunday.
Mix and other union-watchers believe that the catalyst in the new "my way or the highway" attitude on the part of the UAW is the conviction of former UAW Presidents Dennis Williams and Gary Jones on charges of embezzlement in 2020 and 2021 respectively and their resulting imprisonment.
"[Fain] has to appear tough and to deliver for the members," said Mix.
This "my way or the highway" stance by unions is not limited to the UAW. Earlier this year, the Teamsters Union, which represents roughly 330,000 workers nationwide, threatened a walkout of United Parcel Service (UPS) until several demands were met.
"We're organized, strategized, now it's time to pulverize!" Teamsters President Sean O'Brien told a cheering rally in Atlanta days before UPS workers were poised to strike Aug. 1.
Shortly before the deadline, UPS and the Teamsters struck a five-year tentative agreement that raises wages for all workers, creates additional full-time jobs, and imposes several new workplace protections.
Writing in the Washington Examiner Tuesday, columnist James Rogan pointed out "a member of the Teamsters will soon be making $170,000 a year when benefits are included."
Whether the same approach works for the UAW will be determined in the next two weeks.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports,Go Here Now.
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