Here & Now

Steve Frisque on the UAW Settling Its Strike of Automakers

Frederica Freyberg:

After striking for nearly six weeks, the United Auto Workers union has settled with the big three car makers. Votes to ratify the deal are underway, including by union members from Wisconsin at GM and Stellantis, the former Chrysler. The GM contract deal with the companies includes a 70% starting wage hike to $30 an hour and the ability to reach the top pay scale of $42 an hour. For more on the union battle to recoup losses workers took in concessions to help the companies stave off bankruptcy, we turn to Steve Frisque, UAW local 722 president at GM in Hudson who is in Detroit right now for the vote. Steve, thanks very much for being here.

Steve Frisque:

Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what is it like to have settled and be off to vote to ratify?

Steve Frisque:

Well, it’s exciting. We were out for just about 39 days this time after being out 42 four years ago, so it was a long time out and, you know, it takes a toll, especially on a lot of our younger members who just started working here and don’t make the top wage. It takes a huge amount of sacrifice and dedication to be out there on that picket line, which we were 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s exciting that we have a tentative contract. What I’m reading and hearing so far sounds very favorable. We will be rolling that out this afternoon for all the presidents and chairmens of the UAW General Motors departments across the country and then we will take a vote on whether to send it to the membership for a ratification vote. So that’s what we will be doing this afternoon.

Frederica Freyberg:

Would you expect this to be ratified by members?

Steve Frisque:

What I’ve seen so far, yes, I really do. It’s a huge increase, especially for our younger members. It’s bringing them up to the wages that the legacy employees that have been here for a long time are at. It’s getting rid of the tiers, which we have been arguing and fighting for since they were implemented back after the near bankruptcy in 2008 and 2009. Unions were based on equal pay for equal work. That’s our belief. We believe that these younger people should have a path to get to the full wage and make the same as the people that they’re working next to, and this contract allows that to happen. Cost of living is back in the contract, which we had suspended since the bankruptcy time frame. So I really expect this contract to pass. We obviously need to go over some stuff yet because we haven’t seen everything in that contract book yet, but I’m very hopeful that we will pass it and send it to the membership for ratification.

Frederica Freyberg:

What does the contract deal borne of the UAW strike say about the new might of the union?

Steve Frisque:

It’s a totally different leadership, as I’m sure you know. There’s a lot of corruption in the UAW and the administrative caucus that was in there since basically since the union started has now been replaced with a one member, one vote. So Shawn Fain has only been in office since February of this year. They had obviously a different approach to the strike. Normally, they pick a company and a target company and go after them to try and get an agreement and then the other two companies, we call it patterned bargaining, will basically go on the same type of contract pretty close to the pattern bargaining the original place was. This time, he pitted all three against each other and to see who would get out the best deals, and I think it kept the companies on their toes. They did not know what plants were going to be maybe struck next and they couldn’t prepare for it and I think it was very successful and that’s why I think we — all three agreements are probably going to be ratified and because I think it’s the biggest gains that we’ve gotten in my lifetime since I’ve worked here.

Frederica Freyberg:

Speaking of big gains, do increased labor costs jeopardize auto makers as they transition to electric vehicles?

Steve Frisque:

That’s what the company would like you to believe. Labor costs are very minute portion of what a vehicle costs. It’s typically in the 5 to 7% range. They like to say that, but these companies have been making record profits for the last 10 years. The last decade, they’ve made over $250 billion in profits between the three of them. CEO pay has — went up 40% in the last four years. The cost of vehicles have gone up 30% in the last four years. Inflation has gone up just under 19% and our wages have gone up 6%, so if they want to blame it on our wages, that’s just not factual. It’s just once again — they don’t want to share the money that they make with their workers. That’s not just a problem with the big three; that’s a problem across every business, they don’t want to share profits with the people that actually make them the profits and that’s their workers.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. We need to leave it there. Steve Frisque in Detroit, thanks very much.

Steve Frisque:

Thank you for having us. You have a nice day.