UAW president Shawn Fain calls Stellantis’ ‘concessionary offer’ trash

The United Auto Workers union is in its second week of negotiations with Detroit’s three automakers. 

UAW President Shawn Fain gave an update on Tuesday. 

“When we get things like this from the company, and they want to sit there and talk about they’re not asking for concessions and looking for concessions — everything they’re looking for in this document is about concessions,” Fain said. “So I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do with with their proposal. I’m gonna file it in its proper place…to trash, because that’s what it is.”

Stellantis had told Reuters they were not looking for a “concessionary agreement” from workers. 

The UAW has proposed ending tiered wage systems and increasing hourly pay. Stellantis has also proposed cuts to revenue sharing which on average netted workers over $14,000 each. A lot of that was due to the automaker’s record $15 billion profit. 

“Stellantis has proposed cuts to their 401K contribution, gutting the transfer rights based on seniority. They’ve also proposed eliminating the moratorium on outsourcing,” said Fain.  

Automakers have pushed back against the UAW proposal of a 32-hour work week when coupled with wage hikes. The UAW counters that when adjusted for inflation workers are making about $20,000 less than they did before the Great Recession. 

The current contract between the UAW and Detroit’s “Big 3” expires Sept. 14 at 11:59 p.m.

NOTE: Some employees of WDET are members of UAW Local 1979 — a different bargaining group that’s unaffected by these negotiations.