This is not a just transition, and this is not an acceptable standard to set,” said Booth. ![]() “Meanwhile the company is receiving billions in government subsidies. That’s well below the $32 per hour that union workers made at a nearby GM assembly plant that closed in 2019. Workers there currently start at $16.50 per hour, and can work their way up to $20 per hour after seven years. Booth pointed to the Ultium battery cell manufacturing plant in Lordstown, Ohio, which is a joint venture between GM and LG. So far, the industry has been trending in the opposite direction. “These must not only be union jobs, but they must be jobs that maintain the wages, benefits, and safety standards that generations of UAW members have fought for.” “To be clear, I and the UAW leadership support this transition, but it must be a just transition,” said vice president of the union Mike Booth. The union’s leadership team held a town hall late last month where they laid out the stakes. Negotiations for a new agreement are set to begin in July, and electric vehicle jobs will be a defining issue with potential to put the 380,000-member union on strike this fall. ![]() On September 14, the United Auto Workers' contract with the Big Three automakers - GM, Ford, and Stellantis - will expire. But if unions have their way, that won’t be the case for long. One of the dirty little secrets of the electric vehicle boom is that many of its workers are paid less and enjoy fewer benefits than those who manufacture the nation’s gas guzzlers.
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