Name: The UAW are Battling to Secure Jobs at Battery Facilities
Uploaded: 2023-10-10T04:01:00Z
Duration: 5 min 5 s
Description: UAW union members have been striking over job security and pay as automakers push forward in developing EV’s, which require fewer workers and cost more in raw materials. So what does that mean for the future of auto workers and the union? Illustration: George Downs/The Wall Street Journal

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UAW union members have been striking over job security and pay as automakers push forward in developing EV’s, which require fewer workers and cost more in raw materials. So what does that mean for the future of auto workers and the union? Illustration: George Downs/The Wall Street Journal

https://m.wsj.net/video/20231009/ebb33b51-cc59-4af7-ad5f-a2950ca35a49/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

The UAW are Battling to Secure Jobs at Battery Facilities

Batteries may be small, but for the United Auto Workers Union, they're a big deal.

It's gonna change the future of our union and the future of our industry.

At least 25,000 members of the UAW have been striking simultaneously at plants owned by GM, Ford, and Stellantis, as they demand increased pay and better job security. And at the heart of their negotiations lies a question around how the UAW will fit into automakers plans to build more and more EVs. And whether the workers who make these will become unionized.

This union is really fighting over positions that aren't made yet.

So what do America's EV and battery ambitions mean for the future of the UAW? Let's find out. So this is the first time in the UAW's almost 90 year history that the group has gone on strike at all three automakers at the same time. Part of the UAW's demands have been for cost of living adjustments, the right to strike over plant closures, and a 40% pay rise over the next four years. And negotiations have been tricky.

So I'll tell you what I'm gonna do with their proposal. I'm gonna file it in its proper place, 'cause that's where it belongs, the trash.

A lot of the tension has been around where the money for that 40% pay rise could come from. And to help explain why, here's "Wsjs Autos" reporter Nora Eckert.

Okay, webcam, sorry George. I might need to get warmed up a little bit here. This is coming at a time where the automakers are really focused on keeping costs low where they can, so that they can fund the transition to producing EVs.

George: Part of that expense is because the raw materials needed to make Evs, can cost up to 125% more than those used in internal combustion engine or ICE vehicles.

But the union has said that the companies can afford their demands even as they're funneling billions of dollars into this EV transition.

When the big three say the future's uncertain and that the EV transition's expensive, remember that they've made a quarter of a trillion in North American profits over the last decade.

But when it comes to EV manufacturing, the bigger concern for the UAW is around job security. See, the transition from making gas cars to electric ones is dramatically reshaping how many auto workers are needed, and what those roles are. While tasks like installing interior trim or fitting seats are unlikely to change much in the transition, roles that center around building the combustion engine are at risk. According to congressional research, that could mean nearly 150,000 jobs are exposed. And even Ford's own CEO, Jim Farley once told a conference the EVs would require 40% less labor than ICE vehicles.

But the automakers have assured workers that as many of those jobs will be transitioned as possible, so they'll be moving folks over from these ICE plants to EV plants.

While jobs on combustion engine and transmission production lines are likely to be phased out, new jobs in new battery manufacturing facilities will spring up. But that could still present a major issue for the UAW.

The plan was to draw down engine and transmission plants and permanently replace them with low wage battery jobs.

See, most of the new battery factories aren't 100% owned and operated by automakers, they're joint ventures. GM has a factory with LG and plans for two more. Ford has plans for several with SK On, and Stellantis has teamed up with Samsung for its factories. And the problem for the UAW is that these factories aren't automatically unionized.

And the union is fighting for the security of those future jobs, which is really interesting.

George: But that appears to be changing. In December, 2022, the workers at LG and GM's battery facility voted to unionize, and fast forward to the present day.

GM has now agreed, in writing to place their electric battery manufacturing under our National Master Agreement. What this will mean for our membership cannot be understated.

The question now is whether GM's agreement will set the stage for other automakers battery facilities to follow suit. If that happens, it could drive costs up for these automakers. The average hourly labor costs for a unionized OEM is around $65 an hour, according to industry data. Whereas Tesla, which currently isn't unionized, has hourly labor costs of around $45 an hour. And so if these automakers pay their workers union rates at their battery facilities, it could make them less cost competitive compared to the likes of Tesla or foreign manufacturers like those in Asia.

Throughout this whole bargaining process, the automakers have sort of repeated this mantra of, "We cannot be competitive companies if our labor costs inflate as much as the union's demands would make them."

But if automakers don't come to an agreement with the UAW, they may struggle to make vehicles altogether.

I've heard members who wanna bring down the hammer, strike all the truck plants, hit the big three where it hurts. And there is a time and place for that, and believe me, if the big three don't continue to make progress, that time's gonna be coming real soon.

So even though the strikes have gone on for weeks, this could just be the very beginning of a long road ahead for the UAW.