STRIKE! Autoworkers Are Ready!
The Socialist Program with Brian Becker
The Socialist Program
4.7 β’ 587 Ratings
ποΈ 13 September 2023
β±οΈ 36 minutes
ποΈ Recording | iTunes | RSS
π§ΎοΈ Download transcript
Summary
On today's episode Brian and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss the real possibility of a massive strike as the contract for nearly 150,000 members of the United Auto Workers runs out on Thursday. Union members are demanding fair pay and protection from mass layoffs, but the Big Three auto companies β Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis β haven't yet agreed.
Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We are on the eve of what could be a massive and historic strike of auto workers against the big three U.S.-based carmakers. |
| 0:11.7 | The contract covering 150,000 members of the United Auto Workers expires on Thursday, |
| 0:18.6 | but these hugely profitable corporate giants have so far refused to meet |
| 0:23.6 | the union's demands for fair pay and protection from mass layoffs. |
| 0:29.3 | We need a new system. We need a new society. We need to demand that which may have sounded |
| 0:35.5 | impossible even a few weeks ago, |
| 0:38.3 | but is not only realizable, but an imperative necessity. We are excited to have Professor Richard Wolfe join us again for our regular weekly segment, |
| 1:10.4 | where we talk about the biggest |
| 1:11.6 | stories related to the economy, the state of the working class, and the crimes of big business. |
| 1:17.9 | I'm your host, Brian Becker. The Socialist Program brings you content several days a week |
| 1:23.5 | thanks to the support of our patrons at patreon.com forward slash the socialist program. |
| 1:30.2 | We appreciate everyone's support and encourage you if you're not yet to become a patron, |
| 1:35.6 | especially if you enjoy listening or relying on this show and this program. |
| 1:41.4 | Richard Wolf is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. He's the author |
| 1:45.8 | of many books, the latest being, The Sickness is the System when Capitalism Fails to |
| 1:51.5 | save us from pandemics or itself. You can check out all of his work at R-D-Wolf.com. That's |
| 1:58.2 | R-D-W-O-L-F.com. Professor Wolf, welcome back. Thank you, Brian. Glad to be here. |
| 2:06.1 | Well, this is big news. I mean, last month, the UPS workers, Teamsters, almost went on strike. |
| 2:12.7 | They decided not to strike. Their contract passed by 86 percent because they figured at least the great majority of the |
| 2:20.4 | workers that they had by preparing for a strike and preparing well for a strike and showing that |
| 2:25.4 | they were, in fact, willing to strike, they won a big contract and big gains without having |
| 2:32.5 | to strike. Now, the UAW workers, the United Auto Workers, |
... |
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