UAW Criticized for ‘Bogus Stand Up Strike’, Workers Spew Anger

Last updated on October 5th, 2023 at 07:00 am

There’s growing division in the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike at the Big Third. Detroit automakers GM, Stellantis and Ford. Workers are calling out the union for the bureaucracy’s “bogus stand up strike”, and demanding the strike be transformed in an all out movement. 

Workers in Mexico are standing in solidarity with the autoworkers in the United States and Canada. Rank-and-file workers at the GM Silao plant are set to oppose the company’s moves to shift production to Mexico if an all-out strike happens in the US. 

Union members believe UAW and Unifor are being reckless. They highlighted American and Canadian governments’ interference. One of the workers said it’s wrong that unions are consenting this despite majority support of the working class. “Rank-and file workers are right in expressing their anger.” 

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Need for Effective Alternative for Workers

Others want an effective alternative, Paula, a veteran autoworker, shared that they recently heard from a fellow worker from Chicago that managers and union officials tell them if they don’t like it, leave. “They take you to HR and kick you out by force. Workers with the courage to stand up need something that provides them with strong backing.“

“If the union only takes your dues and doesn’t give you support. There must be an organization where there is some way to come to an agreement on how to support each other, not only in your plant or country, but also at the international level, to send support of whatever kind is needed to strengthen the struggle, otherwise it is going to be very difficult.” 

Unifor Canada Trying to Get Agreement for 5,400 Workers

Unifor, Canada’s largest industrial union, is attempting to get an agreement for 5,600 workers at the Ford Motor Company. But workers say this is undemocratic. On Monday, the union blocked a strike by arbitrarily announcing a 24-hour extension. The following day, it announced having reached a tentative agreement with historic and transformative gains. 

However, Unifor didn’t provide any details as to what was historic or transformative about the gains. This outraged workers as they felt the union left them in the dark. Now calls are being made by fellow strikers in the US for Ford workers in Canada to reject the agreement. They believe Unifor is forcing the workers to accept a sellout deal.