United Auto Workers presses GM, Ford on unionizing battery plants

Evs SA

28/04/2021 20:07

By David Shepardson and Joseph White
    DETROIT/WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - United Auto Workers
President Rory Gamble told Reuters the union is in talks with
General Motors  GM.N  about representing workers at joint
venture battery plants, and voiced opposition to proposals for
Washington to impose a firm deadline to end use of gasoline- and
diesel-powered vehicles.
    Gamble said the UAW has raised concerns with GM and Ford
Motor Co  F.N  about joint venture and potential electric
vehicle operations set up by the automakers and supplier
partners that so far are not represented by the union. GM is
building two U.S. battery production plants with South Korean
battery partner LG Chem. Ford is considering investments in
battery manufacturing.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2M91AC
    "We've got to make sure that work stays at a livable wage
and those workers can organize," Gamble said in an interview.
"We're having some discussions developing with General Motors."
    General Motors said in a statement that its Ultium EV
battery facilities "are part of a joint venture and are a
separate company – Ultium Cells LLC. The workforces at those
locations will determine whether or not the facility is
represented by a union."
    The automaker also said that top management "meets with the
UAW regularly" and that "those discussions are private -- we
don’t comment on those conversations in the media." 
    The UAW, with nearly 1 million active and retired members,
is a key player in the debate in Washington and U.S. state
capitals over regulating gasoline-powered vehicles as President
Joe Biden shapes his administration's policies on climate
change.
    Many UAW autoworkers earn their livings building
Detroit-brand, petroleum-burning pickup trucks and SUVs or
assembling engines and other components for those vehicles in
Midwestern states such as Michigan. 
    Gamble compared the technological challenge presented by
electric vehicles to the disruption caused by the oil price
shocks of the 1970s, and government policies to demand rapid
fuel efficiency improvements in response. The struggles of
Detroit automakers to comply opened the door to Japanese and
later European automakers to establish a parallel, non-union
auto industry in the United States.   
    California and 11 other mostly coastal and
Democratic-leaning states have called on Biden to set a deadline
of 2035 to phase out sales of new CO2-emitting, internal
combustion vehicles. Biden has not agreed to endorse a deadline.
    "We don't like these hard deadlines you're hearing. We don't
think a lot of them are fully achievable," Gamble said. "We
should not put all our eggs in one basket."
    "When autoworkers hear about zero emission by a certain date
they get very uncomfortable because they feel it's a challenge
to their very employment," Gamble said. "We see a blending" of
electric vehicles and internal combustion engines "for some
years to come."
    He said the United States should "ease into this full 100%
EVs at the appropriate time, when everything is in place."
    He praised Biden and the White House for extensive
engagement with the union. "He understands the challenges our
members face," Gamble said. 
    Pointing to the administration's upcoming decision to revise
fuel efficiency requirements, Gamble said Biden should adopt a
"fair standard that doesn't put a lot of burden on the auto
companies" or cost jobs.
    Biden wants $174 billion to boost the EV market, including
$100 billion for consumer rebates. Gamble also expressed concern
about that plan, fearing much of the money could go to subsidize
EVs built abroad.
    "We don't have a lot of American EVs on the road right now
to choose from," Gamble said, saying any new rebate program
should ensure it "increases American manufacturing."
    Gamble wants the administration to make sure workers at
plants producing electric vehicles, batteries and components can
unionize. U.S. workers at the No. 1 electric vehicle
manufacturer, Tesla, are not represented by a union.
    The United States needs to do more to ensure a lot of
component work tied to EVs are manufactured domestically and
that workers get good wages, he said. 
    "We don't need another service sector in this country,"
Gamble said. "That's what I am fearful of. If these jobs are low
wage minimal benefit jobs its not going to benefit the economy."
   
    Gamble said he personally does not plan to buy an electric
vehicle -- and is skeptical that many Americans will buy EVs. 
    "I have no interest at all in an electric vehicle," he said.
"I am just dyed-in-the-wool, 'Give me my V-8 and my pickup
truck.'"

 (Reporting by Joseph White and David Shepardson; Editing by
David Gregorio)
 ((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))