A group of active and retired auto workers from the Big Three formed a caravan from Detroit to Washington, D.C., December 8 to have their say in the hotly contested auto industry bailout debate in Congress.
The caravan was joined in D.C. by auto workers from Delaware, Ohio, Indiana, and New York, along with workers from parts suppliers American Axle, Allison, and Delphi.
Caravan photo credit: Pete Vargas / pete@labornotes.org
The caravan left Detroit days after UAW councils from all three companies met and agreed to open their contracts for more concessions to the ailing automakers. Caravan participants said UAW concessions would do little to help the Big Three in the absence of a long-term strategy to transform the industry. The union offered significant concessions to the companies during a 2005 mid-contract opener, and a controversial 2007 contract negotiation package that included a wage cut so drastic that some UAW newly hired auto workers now make less than their non-union counterparts in foreign-owned transplants.
BETTER THAN EMAIL
Workers expressed frustration that, while their industry was facing imminent crisis, the union offered few ways to get involved. UAW leaders lobbied Congress, but other than a sharply worded email to call lawmakers, rank and filers and retirees had few ways to challenge the demonization of their work-and their union. They hit upon the caravan as a way to impress upon lawmakers and the media that union contracts are not the source of the Big Three's problems, and that Capitol Hill would do better to aid the automakers by fixing health care and promoting green jobs than by forcing down standards for all workers.
After weeks of public debate that blamed workers for management's bad decisions, the caravan put a human face on the cost of the Big Three's failing. Their appearance on Capitol Hill was quickly followed by an interim aid package from Congress that has gained the support of a majority of the population.
UNIONS ARE NOT TO BLAME
Auto workers took their arguments that auto workers' wages are not the cause of the industry's woes straight to the office of Senator Richard Shelby, the Alabama Republican who lambasted auto workers' wages during Congressional hearings on the loans. Auto workers surprised Shelby's staffers mid-day Monday, and after a confrontation, sat down with staffers. They picked apart the myth that autoworkers make $70 an hour for a pair of smug staff people, and invited the senator to boost the living standards of workers in his state—and across the nation—by embracing the Employee Free Choice Act.
A HEALTHY RECEPTION
After the chilly reception from Shelby's office, the group made their way back across the Capitol to sit down with Michigan Representative John Conyers, the author of H.R. 676, the single-payer health care bill that's popular with many rank and filers. The group discussed plans for a town hall meeting to link the need for good-paying green jobs in Michigan with the fight for single-payer health care—which in Canada knocks off $1200 per car in costs for the Big Three, according to Canadian economists.
TRANSFORM THE INDUSTRY
During countless interviews, caravan attendees pushed Congress to use the bailout as an opportunity to develop a bigger vision for what the incredible know-how in the auto industry could be producing.
They said shuttered auto plants could be making mass transit, high-speed trains, wind turbines—all kinds of vitally important forms of energy and transportation not dependent on oil. But rather than coming from some TV talking head or think-tank wonk, the call came workers who spent lifetimes producing automobiles. Better than any of the lawmakers or auto executives, they understand the need to think past next year's election or annual sales report. They emphasized the need to plan for the long-term, and to have government intervene, because the auto companies won't do it themselves (these are the guys who gave us the Hummer after all!).
Caravan attendees called the whirlwind trip to DC a success: A rank-and-file message rose to the world stage as auto workers shared their experiences and insight with decision-makers. Participants will continue to discuss how to move toward sweeping changes in the auto industry that respect unions, provide decent jobs, and protect the environment.
Contact info@autoworkercaravan.org to be kept in touch with future endeavors to transform our industry from the rank and file.
