UAW gives ground to aid Big 3's chance for bailout (2008)
www.latimes.com

... First it was the heads of Detroit's Big Three automakers who offered public pledges to cut costs, shrink their vehicle lines, go green and slash their own salaries in the quest for a desperately needed government bailout.

On Wednesday, it was the workers' turn to sacrifice before crucial congressional hearings begin this morning on the automakers' request for $34 billion in emergency loans.

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said the union would allow General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler to delay billions of dollars in payments to a retiree healthcare trust and suspend a controversial jobs bank that pays laid-off workers. The union also would consider other cost-cutting changes, he said.

But Gettelfinger complained that, after workers agreed to major concessions in 2005 and 2007, the union and the companies were being asked to make significant new sacrifices in order to secure federal aid, while big financial institutions such as Citigroup gave up relatively little to secure much larger amounts of taxpayer money.

"Are we going to blame the autoworkers, who are by the way 10% of the cost of an automobile . . . or are we going to take a look at what's happened to our economy, to the housing crunch, to the Wall Street bailout and the failures on Wall Street," Gettelfinger said during a televised Detroit news conference as union members cheered.

"I'm having a little problem myself here understanding why there's a double-standard here, but we accept it and we'll play by those rules," he said. ...

UAW has a unique strike strategy. It keeps Detroit Big 3 automakers guessing
www.ideastream.org

... The UAW's strategy of limited, targeted strikes at all three American auto companies has gained widespread support among its rank and file.

On Facebook, one commenter compared it to a game of Battleship put forth by United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain.

"He knows where all the boats are and knows exactly how to sink them!" one commenter wrote.

On Tuesday, as autoworkers enter a fifth day of strikes at plants in Missouri, Michigan and Ohio, UAW boss Fain has set a new deadline in the contract talks.

"If we don't make serious progress by noon on Friday, September 22nd, more locals will be called on to stand up and join the strike," he announced in a video posted to Facebook Monday night, while not revealing which plants or how many would be called on next.

Simultaneous strikes against the Detroit Big 3 are unprecedented in UAW history. The roughly 13,000 auto workers already on strike account for just a fraction of the unionized auto workforce, but the threat of growing the strike has added pressure and kept the companies guessing. ...