The United Auto Workers' contract negotiations at the Big 3 automakers – Ford, GM, and Stellantis – just began. Their current labor contracts expire in mid-September, and the new UAW leadership has been crystal clear: they're not afraid to take 150,000 of its members out on strike if their demands aren't met. This would be less than two months after the potential strike of 340,000 Teamsters at UPS.
In this bonus episode, we discuss the renewed militancy of the UAW, and the reform movement, Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), which shocked the labor world for taking control of the union leadership earlier this year.
There is no labor movement resurgence without the resurgence of labor in manufacturing, but the UAW has also been a leader in the upsurge of higher education organizing over the past five years.
To discuss all this, we spoke with two newly elected UAW officers: Brandon Mancilla, Director of UAW Region 9A, and Dan Vicente, Director of UAW Region 9.
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Hosted by Teddy Ostrow
Edited by Teddy Ostrow
Produced by NYGP & Ruby Walsh, in partnership with In These Times & The Real News
Music by Casey Gallagher
Cover art by Devlin Claro Resetar
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Support the show at Patreon.com/upsurgepod.
Follow us on Twitter @upsurgepod, Facebook, The Upsurge, and YouTube @upsurgepod.
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Show Notes
Chris Brooks, "How the UAW Went from a Militant, Trailblazing Union to a Corrupt, Dealmaking One," In These Times, March 5, 2020.
Luis Feliz Leon, "'There’s a Real Fight Coming': Newly Elected UAW Reformer Daniel Vicente on What's Next," In These Times, March 8, 2023.
Alex N. Press, "Can the UAW Rise Again?" Jacobin, March 31, 2023.
Becca Roskill, "The End of Business Unionism at the UAW — and Beyond?" The Nation, April 7, 2023.
Teddy Ostrow, "Workers Are Transforming America's Most Powerful Unions into Fighting Machines. Yours Could be Next," The Real News, June 26, 2023.
UAW Video: "Fighting for COLA"
UAW Video: UAW Unionwide Town Hall on the Big Three Automakers
UAW Video: "Our Defining Moment," Calls out Big Three Race to the Bottom in EV Transition.
UAW Video: "¼ Trillion"
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