UAW President Shawn Fain in recent weeks has emphasized not only solidarity among his 150,000 or so members negotiating a four-year contract with the Detroit Three, but also support from the powerful Teamsters.
He has repeatedly said that 11:59pm on September 14 is a “deadline, not a reference point.”
UAW members won’t be the only ones meeting this deadline, Fine said.
Truck drivers transporting the vehicles plan to stand with UAW members if they go on strike, which would mean not delivering the vehicles to Ford Motor Co. Or General Motors or Stellantis-owned Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge, and Fiat.
“We 100 percent support the UAW workers and Shawn Fine’s positions,” said Kevin Moore, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 299, home of James R. Hoffa in Detroit, which represents 5,000 members and most freight truck carriers. “Our team members will not cross strike lines.”
Fine and Moore, a third-generation truck driver, spoke at Detroit’s Labor Day Parade. Moore’s wife, Cathy, is a member of UAW Local 245 for engine prototyping and research. I worked at Ford for 40 years.
“I understand their struggles and their issues,” Kevin Moore told the Detroit Free Press. “I understand the UAW members, and their really strong feelings about fighting for second-class workers who make $11 an hour less than full-time workers. This has been going on for years. You have someone working side by side.” – Side by side with someone earning $11 an hour less than Tier 1 employees. I understand trying to create parity in that work group.”
Moore, who this week attended a statewide meeting in Grand Rapids, is also president of the 43rd Michigan Joint Council, which includes all of the state’s local residents, or 35,000 staff members. Michigan has 200,000 additional Teamsters retirees. He said the Teamsters stand ready to respond at any moment to a UAW strike.
“What is the point of providing goods and services to companies when they have workers fighting for their wages and working conditions?” Moore said. “We have to show support.”
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Since Moore has run Local 299 for 24 years, he said he knows almost every local Teamster leader in the country. He said they represent 1.4 million members.
Moore said the Detroit Teamsters are ready. “Tier 1 workers are fighting for Tier 2 workers. This is about justice.”
In addition to driving trucks, team members work in ferry storage, operation and repair, and shipbuilding. Truck drivers Last month, the company ratified a five-year contract for more than 340,000 UPS workersRaising the wages of full- and part-time employees.
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The UAW’s scope of support also includes the United Steelworkers, AFL-CIO, Service Employees International (SEIU), Starbucks Labor Union, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and CWA. (Communications Workers of America).
During the 40-day UAW strike against General Motors in 2019, teachers, nurses and other union members brought food and drinks to the picket line and union halls around the clock. Strike lines operate in scheduled shifts throughout the night, until a tentative contract is reached.
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Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid. Read more of her stories here.
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