After walking out on strike at midnight on June 1st, UAW Local 2093 members at American Axle/Dauch Corporation in Three Rivers, Michigan reached an agreement with the company last Thursday that secures the workers’ most important demand of $30 per hour (£22.50) by 2030.
That is a more than 36 per cent increase to the top wage rate over four years – among other historic gains in a record contract at the Tier 1 parts supplier to General Motors (GM).
UAW President Shawn Fain said: ‘Tonight, after 10 days on strike, I am proud to announce that UAW Local 2093 has reached a tentative agreement at American Axle.
‘And tonight, after 18 years of sacrifice, these workers are finally winning back a big chunk of what was taken from them.’
In 2008, workers at American Axle took major sacrifices to save the facility from closure during the Great Recession.
Many long-time workers who were making as much as $29 an hour in 2008 saw their wages slashed to $14.50.
Legacy UAW members hired before May 31, 2012 – including those who went from $29 per hour in 2008 to $14 – will see an immediate $8 per hour increase on ratification.
Workers also achieved gains in other core demands with more paid days off and without any concessions on their current health care costs, something the company insisted at the table couldn’t be done.
UAW Region 1D Director Steve Dawes said: ‘Not only did they take care of the legacy people that were here and made the tough decisions back in 2008 to keep the place open, they took care of the people working there today.
‘They also took care of all the future generations that will come to work here in Three Rivers, Michigan, at American Axle.’
In the coming days, nearly 1,000 UAW Local 2093 members will fully review the tentative agreement before taking a vote on whether to ratify the deal.
Josh Jager, the UAW Local branch 2093 bargaining chair said: ‘This contract will change lives in Three Rivers and across southwest Michigan.
‘I am damn proud of this agreement, and I am damn proud to be a member of UAW Local 2093.’
Meanwhile, twenty-four drivers, pump fillers, and loaders represented by Teamsters Local 283 in Ferndale, Michigan, have won their arbitration case against Airgas after the company illegally locked them out for nearly a year.
An arbitrator ruled that the members must be reinstated with full back pay and benefits.
Teamsters General President Sean M O’Brien said: ‘These dedicated Teamsters endured hardship for almost a full year as Airgas tried to wear them down, but not once did they even think about crossing the picket line.
‘Their solidarity, determination, and resolve cannot be understated.
‘The arbitration victory sends a clear message that employers who violate workers’ rights will be held accountable and the Teamsters Union will never stop fighting to protect our members in every industry and every state.’
The arbitration win comes amid a strike that Airgas Teamsters have been forced to undergo for over a year following multiple unfair labour practices (ULPs) committed by the company.
These include unlawful threats, lockouts, discharge, and retaliation against workers for exercising their legal rights, as well as failing to provide notice or an opportunity to bargain.
Airgas, a subsidiary of French multinational Air Liquide, is the largest US distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases.
Juan Campos, Director of the Teamsters Tankhaul Division and Teamsters International Vice President At-Large said: ‘Airgas thought it could retaliate against our members and get away with it.
‘The company broke the law, targeted its own workers, and dragged this fight out for nearly a year.
‘Now our members are going back to work with full back pay and benefits, and Airgas is finally being forced to answer for its disgusting behaviour.’
Elsewhere, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) members gathered on Thursday outside SEIU Local 1000 headquarters, adorned their cars in purple and gold, and drove to the Capitol to protest against Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom’s unpopular in-person work directive.
The order was originally supposed to go into effect in 2025 but was postponed for a year after widespread union upset.
Now that the deadline has come back around and takes effect next month, the union that represents thousands of state workers, has continued to protest against the return-to-work order (RTO) that would have its members, returning to government offices four days a week.
Walls also claims ‘a handful’ of departments have not notified union employees of the return-to-work order.
The union has put forth a proposal that contains stipends to cover the costs associated with in-person work, including parking fees, tolls, and increased funding for state workers who work in high-crime areas, which District Labour Council 752 President Kevin Healy co-signed.
Healy said: ‘There are state workers who are lucky to make $100 (£74.55) a day, and they also have to spend 16 of those dollars on bridge tolls to get to work.
DLC 768 President Joshua Guile said free parking is the ‘very least’ the government can do if it wants state workers back in the office four days a week by July 1st, though he says he believes the government is unlikely to follow through on the union’s desired stipends because it needs to purchase more office space to house the influx of in-person workers.
Healy said that low wages coupled with high parking fees pose huge problems for retention of state employees.
He concluded: ‘We put all this time into training and supporting state workers, and now they want to leave their jobs.’
The AFL-CIO has sued the Trump administration over a new Department of Labour rule that violates federal law in an effort to drain union resources away from organising and representing workers.
The rule adds excessive, burdensome financial reporting requirements on unions in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act and other laws.
The policy, known as ‘the LM-2 long form’, is designed to drown unions in paperwork and drain them of resources needed to organise, collectively bargain, and advocate for their members – especially for smaller unions who are particularly challenged to take on the additional administrative burden.
Wealthy corporations continue to go under-scrutinised, allowed to get away with minimal reporting requirements compared to the unions who represent the workers that create their profit.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said: ‘The Trump administration is hellbent on making it harder for working people to come together in a union and take collective action, and this new policy is just the latest example.
‘Whether they’re stripping one million federal workers of their collective bargaining rights or illegally springing unnecessary reporting requirements on unions, they’re using every tool in the toolbox to come after workers.
‘But the labour movement doesn’t back down and will fight every one of these attacks.
‘We’ll see the administration in court.’
