President Joe Biden's green energy agenda could face significant roadblocks as unionized auto workers prepare to strike over the hazards and lack of benefits in electric vehicle production.
The president aims to have 50% of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030 and achieve a carbon-free power sector by 2035, and he has his eyes on several other green policies. However, labor unions argued that there are not enough worker benefits to convince them to move to electric vehicle plants or factories, which could halt Biden's attempts for a green U.S. auto field.
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This week, United Auto Workers and big automakers like Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis will enter contract negotiations. Among the issues on the table are UAW's need for assurance that workers at older factories can transition to new EV jobs, and that pay and benefits will remain the same in the EV business.
If union workers and companies cannot come to an agreement on the multiyear contracts encompassing nearly 150,000 UAW workers, some plants are expected to go on strike as early as September, according to the Washington Post.
On Monday, the UAW released a paper called “High Risk & Low Pay: A Case Study of Ultium Cells Lordstown." The union said it highlights the "dangerous working conditions" at General Motors's joint-venture battery cell plant in Ohio. Several aspects of the report detail hazardous working conditions involving contact with chemicals combined with low pay and benefits.
The union has turned its attention to Washington, D.C., as well in its fight for stronger support for its workers. The UAW is repeatedly asking the Biden administration why billions of dollars in taxpayer money are being used to subsidize EV and battery factories without requiring better pay for the workers.
Recent legislation is directing tens of billions of dollars to support EVs by giving tax credits to manufacturers and consumers. Biden had tried to include stronger support for unions in the laws, pushing for a requirement that full consumer tax credits for EV purchases would apply only to vehicles built by unionized workers. But the measure never made it into law.
To prove a point, UAW President Shawn Fain is withholding the union's endorsement for Biden's reelection campaign until the UAW is convinced the White House will guarantee strong wages and job security as the field switches to electric.
This could have a significant effect on Biden's chances in 2024. He already has received endorsements from the AFL-CIO and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He frequently calls himself the most pro-union president in history, but he also promotes the steps his administration has taken toward clean energy.
It is not clear if Biden would have the authority to force a deal between the UAW and auto companies like he did last year in the railroad worker contract talks, which came dangerously close to a strike had Congress not intervened.
Biden and Democrats faced heat from Railroad Workers United, one of his most loyal constituencies, and other labor unions because they did not approve of the railroad labor contract brokered by the White House last fall.
Heading into the UAW contract negotiations this week, Biden is potentially facing a similar headache. The White House has already appointed Democratic adviser Gene Sperling to be its “point person” for the UAW and Big Three automakers.
“The President believes that new jobs building electric vehicles should be at least as good as current jobs building traditional cars — including by ensuring employers respect workers’ choice to organize a union and engage in collective bargaining. He has directed his team to take all appropriate steps to achieve that goal,” White House spokeswoman Robyn Patterson told the Washington Post in a statement.
The companies involved in the negotiations have said they are committed to creating thousands of union jobs with attractive wages while also trying to control costs in a rising and competitive industry.
“Americans — none more so than union members — are counting on us to keep an industry that employs more than 9.5 million people and drives $1 trillion dollars into the economy alive and well,” Ford CEO Jim Farley wrote in a Detroit Free Press editorial, adding that the company will “work hard” to reach a deal with the union.
Chuck Browning, vice president of UAW's National Ford Department, wrote a response to Farley on Monday in the Detroit Free Press, saying that he has publicly commended Ford for working to address the expansion of health care and promoting temporary workers to full-time status.
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"However, that doesn't wipe away the unsustainable economic struggles, uncertain retirement benefits, and future job security issues our members currently face," Browning said.
The Washington Examiner reached out to UAW and the White House for comment on the upcoming negotiations.