Majority of Democratic US senators want battery workers part of UAW contract

Twenty-seven Democratic U.S. senators — a majority of the party's members in the chamber — sent a letter Thursday to the heads of General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, calling on them to enable employees at their joint ventures with other partners making electric vehicle batteries to be covered in a new national UAW contract.

The letter, signed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and some of the most progressive and labor-friendly members of the Democratic Party, said UAW members — who are threatening to strike if they can't get what they consider a fair contract, especially at a time of high profits and increased electrification — have made the Detroit automakers "the successful, innovative and profitable companies they are today."

"(Workers) in the new electric vehicle sector will be critical to your future success," the letter continued. "They must share in the benefits of a union contract." The letter also was signed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with the Democratic Party. The current breakdown in the Senate is 50 Democrats, 47 Republicans and three independents, including Sanders, all of whom caucus with the Democratic Party.

While Michigan's two Democratic U.S. senators — Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow — did not sign the letter, they sent their own this week to GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra, Ford CEO Jim Farley and Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares urging them to "negotiate in good faith" with the UAW and reach a deal that addresses wages, health care, retirement and job security ahead of the Sept. 14 contract expiration for some 383,000 workers nationwide.

That letter stopped short of specifically urging that employees at joint ventures created to make batteries for the dozens of new electric vehicles being developed be made part of that contract. UAW President Shawn Fain has made a point that he wants workers at those factories to be under the new contract and met briefly with President Joe Biden at the White House last week to discuss it.

Peters and Stabenow did argue in their letter that "in order for the electric vehicle transition to be successful, UAW workers cannot be left behind" and in their belief that "the electric vehicle transition will not and cannot come at the expense of good-paying jobs or workers’ ability to form a union and collectively bargain."

In late June, the UAW, which so far has declined to endorse Biden or any other presidential candidate in next year's election, blasted the current administration for giving initial approval to a loan for a venture between Ford and a South Korean battery maker without any upfront conditions on wages or working conditions.

More: Fain puts bullseye on 'Big Three' as UAW strike target

Electric vehicles require far fewer workers to assemble than ones with internal combustion engines, with most of the labor going into assembling long-range lithium batteries. As a consequence, the union and the signatories of the letter sent Thursday to the automotive heads and their joint venture partners are pressing for those battery plants to be unionized or enjoy union-type wages and benefits.

"These are highly-skilled, technical and strenuous jobs," the letter said. "To that end, it is unacceptable and a national disgrace that the starting wage at any current American joint venture electric vehicle battery facility is $16 an hour. We note that at $33,320 a year, the starting wage at one of these facilities is just above the poverty level for a family of four." It added those levels are "particularly egregious in the face of the billions of dollars of profits GM, Stellantis and Ford have made in the past 10 years."

Some of the other signatories to the letter included U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Bob Casey and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Sanders and Peter Welch of Vermont and Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Most Democratic US senators want battery workers part of UAW contract