GM’s Indy Stamping Plant May Set Precedent
In some unions a mail-in ballot is common, but in UAW auto plants, it is unheard of. Members vote in person at the union hall or in the plant. But now the UAW International is forcing a mail-in vote on a concessionary contract reopener at a GM local—after the membership of Local 23 in Indianapolis voted overwhelmingly not to reopen. All this is taking place without the support of the local union.
Regional officials are trying this end run because at an informational meeting August 15 attended by most of the membership, members shouted down the international reps who’d planned to present the concessions, who then left the meeting.
GM had slated to close its Indianapolis Metal Fab stamping plant, but then J.D. Norman Industries, a little-known metal components company with only a six-year track record, offered to buy it. J.D. Norman didn't want to accept the contract’s successor clause, though, which says any new owner must honor the contract in place. He presented an alternative contract at half wages—.50 instead of —that also gutted the protections won around working conditions.
Almost all the 630 Metal Fab workers in Indianapolis are eligible to be transferred to other GM facilities if their plant shuts down. But they wonder if the wage cut would become a domino effect and follow them to the new plants they might transfer to. Many of these workers have already moved three or four times to protect their wages, working conditions, and benefits accrued over many years. They feel that if J.D. Norman succeeds in throwing out the successor clause, the wage cuts will spread to other GM stamping plants in a new round of a race to the bottom.
After several weeks of intense pressure on the workers from J.D. Norman, UAW Region 3 Director Mo Davison has taken the ball, announcing the international is setting up the mail-in vote, with the American Arbitration Association overseeing the process. Ballots are to be mailed this week and counted beginning September 27.
This process appears to violate the UAW constitution. Article 19 says no one, including International officials, has the authority to negotiate a contract with any employer “without first obtaining the approval of the Local Union.” Today the local election committee handed out a flyer saying the vote would violate local bylaws.
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