RUBEN NAVARETTE JR.: Autoworkers union veers off the road in demanding more money for less work
Whenever a union calls for a labor strike, liberals pull out their favorite code word. “Dignity,” the politicians, academics and journalists chant. That’s all the striking workers and their unions are trying to preserve. At least that’s what we’re told.
“It is time for you to treat your employees with the respect and dignity they deserve,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said recently, calling out the CEOs of the Big Three U.S. automakers.
This month, the UAW called for a work stoppage for about 12,700 employees at three U.S. plants. And until the union listed its demands, I had no idea that working five days a week was so undignified.
Any union is only as strong as it is reasonable. If it goes too far and asks for too much, it loses any leverage it might have to reach a favorable agreement. The UAW — which represents about 150,000 autoworkers — has four major demands. They range from fair to fantastical.
It’s fair that the union is seeking the restoration of defined-benefit pensions and a rollback of concessions that workers made in 2007 when U.S. automakers were struggling. That is, as long as the union and the workers it represents understand that these things are cyclical and that they may have to make concessions again in a few years if the car companies land on hard times once more.
Also, it’s not out of line that the union is demanding a 40 percent salary increase over the next several years. The automakers are offering a 20 percent bump. Workers are worth what employers are willing to pay. If the union can get more money for its members, then good on the union. Besides, the stubborn inflation that came with “Bidenomics” has made everything more expensive, and workers’ paychecks need to reflect that reality.
But the UAW began to veer off the road with its demand for stronger job security for workers as more automakers shift to electric vehicles, some of which require much less labor to manufacture. No one in America is guaranteed a job, and workers will become more complacent and less competitive if they think their jobs are protected. Innovation and change are realities in any industry, and auto companies are no exception.
Finally, there’s the wildest of all the demands. In what could be the dealbreaker, the UAW wants its members to work only four days a week (32 hours) for the same pay they would earn in a five-day workweek. Apparently, taking off Fridays or Mondays preserves worker “dignity.”
I work seven days a week. I’m a self-employed journalist and media entrepreneur who produces content for multiple platforms. But I worked full time for three different newspapers in my career. And even when I punched a clock, I always had side hustles in journalism that required working on nights and weekends.
I hear much the same story from a lot of my white-collar friends who work in media, law, medicine, tech, public relations and other fields. According to the UAW, we all must be giving up our dignity.
A few months ago, I spoke to law enforcement officers. I criticized police unions for blocking reform efforts and making it difficult to drum bad cops out of the profession. I mentioned that, as a journalist, I work at the pleasure of media companies and can be fired on a whim. One officer shouted out, “You need a union!” Everyone laughed.
No such luck. Big Media is in big trouble. Many newspapers, radio stations and television networks struggle to make payroll. But even when the media industry was flush with cash in the 1980s and 1990s, efforts to start unions at newspapers or television stations were thwarted.
According to the Pew Research Center, only about a quarter (26 percent) of U.S. journalists who are employed by a news organization full time or part time report that their organization has a union.
Don’t miss the irony. In overseeing its own house, the liberal media — which champions unions for everyone else — is not so liberal.
Back in Detroit, I’m not surprised that the UAW is throwing the long ball by asking for long weekends. There is evidence that many Americans are tired of working, and they want more time off. A generation ago, you never heard phrases such as “the Great Resignation” or “quiet quitting.”
Today, working less is the new norm. If you put in a 40-hour week, you’re a sucker. If you work more than that, like me, you’re a fool.
Something is rotten in Detroit. It’s the American work ethic.
Ruben Navarrette’s email address is crimscribe@icloud.com. His podcast, “Ruben in the Center,” is available through every podcast app.
