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The Role Of The Stand USrike Of 2023 In Organized Labor

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The UAW’s history must be considered to fully understand how the Stand Up Strike of 2023 within the Auto Industry played an effective role in Organized Labor. Since the union has existed for 89 years, there have been numerous contests that defined not only the standards for the millions of auto workers in representation but also its character. The earliest movement occurred when workers at General Motors’ Flint, Michigan plant, instigated the infamous sit-down strikes for six weeks in 1937. This effort led to a reconstruction of the industrial and labor industry where General Motors accepted the United Auto Workers and the single bargaining strategy. In the years following, a workers’ sit-down strike was launched against General Motors again …show more content…

High interest rates and foreign competition challenged the automotive industry along with the union’s growth during 1979. The article, “The 2023 UAW Strike: A Turning Point in Labor History?”, states, “The near bankruptcy of Chrysler and the ‘concession bargaining’ demanded by both government and management led to income stagnation, two-tier wage structures, the end pattern of bargaining, and a sharp decline in union numbers and power.” The text goes on to state, “The UAW, which had once enrolled a million and a half members in the 1970’s, shrank to less than 40,000 working members in the 21st century.” Undoubtedly, a significant Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) was a reform movement that introduced the idea of a campaign for top union officials to be elected. Union members voted for campaign officials in direct elections and the new administration officeholders were in office by …show more content…

Not only did the strike positively impact wages, but it also expanded the Big Three companies’ employment. President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) presented billions to the auto companies in grants and loans to fund the greenhouse transition. UAW President Shawn Fain ensured that Biden’s greenhouse transition would develop thousands of new, good-paying positions. As a result of the strike against Stellantis, the UAW secured the reopening of Belvidere Assembly, located in Belvidere, Illinois, which was previously closed by management in February 2023. The company also announced plans to open a new battery plant in Belvidere, placing 5,000 additional jobs in the area. In addition to increasing wages and job opportunities, the Stand Up Strike of 2023 is responsible for unionizing the automotive industry. While the Big Three (Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis) oversee the production of 40%, the remaining 60% are built by workers who are not enrolled in the UAW at BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Lucid, Nissan, Mazada, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, and

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For example, the Pullman Company had a lot of layoffs, wage cuts and made the standards of living plummet. In response to this, the American Railway Union (ARU) and Eugene V. Debs decided to make their supporting members promise not to work on trains that had a Pullman car on them. Although this only started in Chicago it quickly spread to 27 other states and Richard Olney, a lawyer in charge of law enforcement, soon stated that all trains must have a Pullman car and a mail car on them, which made what they strikers were doing illegal. Throughout the Panic and Depression of 1983 and the Pullman Strike, it is clear to see that corporations were once again trying to micromanage the day-to-day life of the workers and decided what was best for them even if it was not. It demonstrates the unfair labor policies and organized labor.

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Southam Newspaper Chain, Firestone, and Westinghouse all experienced closures due to striking workers. Yet, it was the Stelco strike which would have the greatest effect. It came to a head on July 10th, when the federal government declared they were taking control of the steel industry and that striking was illegal (p. 46). In response, the steelworkers’ union of Hamilton held a meeting, where they made the decision to strike. Straight from the meeting, they headed to Stelco, rounding up workers of other professions along the way.

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John Morrison's Testimony of a Machinist is a Transcript of Morrison testifying in front of the Senate. The transcript covers changes in factory work environments, possible causes of those changes and effects that they have. This paper is a very good source to see the growing unrest among factory workers, why they feel disenfranchised and why they might wish to unionize. What is overlooked in this which make his arguments weaker than they could be is the fact that technology will always be advancing and must be adapted to.

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Philip Dray and his book “ There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America” provide many information about the vital accomplishments of organized labor evangelists to draw upon. He show us the illuminate its central role in social, economic and political. Throughout his book, the security and dignity locate this struggle in all its various setting from union halls to the halls of Congress and the White House. He demonstrates the urgency of the contest between labor and capital still remains and influences today. Philip Dray offers us with an historic account of the labor-management relations in the United State.

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In the midst of unemployment, unions gained strength. The unions could be seen as a positive impact on society because they showcased people standing up for their rights, however the truth was far from that. The strikes organized by union leaders were violent and unsafe. Protesters blocked trains, burned railcars and set buildings aflame. One man, General Nelson A. Miles sensed that the spreading unrest was, “‘more threatening and far-reaching than anything that had occurred before”’

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In 1883, a machinist testified before the Senate Committee on Labor and Capital (Document D), and stated that a “great deal of difference” had taken place due to the instatement of Organized Labor forces. When asked to state the differences he had seen take place, he admitted that skilled jobs had been broken down, and because of technology and machinery, there was a lower demand for workers in general, skilled or unskilled. He also stated that “100 men are able to do now what it took 300 or 400 men to do fifteen years ago”. This shows the lack of success that organized labor had in helping American workers gain and maintain

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It had been so long since a similar act has surfaced, that the veto was met by astonished apprehension. In a sense, people had not been taking the UAW seriously. Around the turn of the millennia, the UAW was being accused of corruption by everyone actual union workers to labor. Along these lines, were the allegations that the UAW had ties to the Mafia.

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The infamous sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan, unfolded against the backdrop of a nation grappling with the economic devastation wrought by the Great Depression. During the early 1930’s, the automotive industry monopolized the market, becoming the pulse of American manufacturing at the time. However, behind the curtain of prosperity they portrayed, lay a hard reality for the workers on the assembly lines. Long hours, terrible wages, and oppressive working conditions were the reality for these workers. They were further intensified and employed by the unchecked power of the industrial monopolies like General Motors.

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