The following is a statement of the Nexteer Workers Rank-and-File Committee. To contact or join the committee, fill out the form at the end of this article.
The UAW Local 699 bargaining committee has cooked up another rotten deal with Nexteer. We know the company will not give up a crumb without a fight. Absent a strike that shuts down the company’s operations, anything management and the bargaining committee come up with will be nothing but a rehash of the garbage we shot down by 96 percent last month.
After we sent the last tentative agreement packing, the UAW International and local union officials extended the contract behind our backs and told us it was illegal to strike. Since then, they have been holding closed door meetings with management to swindle us again. The official announcement of a new agreement is dripping with hypocrisy and lies.
On May 1, the bargaining committee issued a statement saying it was “pleased to announce that we have reached another Tentative Agreement with the company.” The contract will continue to be extended—again without even asking our permission—to “allow appropriate time to facilitate another rollout presentation.”
The announcement continues: “The extension, although undesirable, is the best way to properly insulate the Membership from the negative impacts and/or conditions which may arise from working without an agreement.”
Do they take us for fools?
We should not be working without a contract. We should be on strike. But nowhere does the bargaining committee even entertain the idea. The only thing that could force the company to meet our demands is the exercise of our fundamental right to withhold our labor.
Union bureaucrats silent on speedup
Nexteer has rolled out a new computer tracking program to monitor “cycle time,” measuring to the second how long each worker takes to complete his or her jobs. Most workers are reportedly working on cycles of 28 to 30 seconds and are being pressured to hit those numbers every single time, every single hour of every single shift.
As one brother said: “Advisors have been ‘hawking’ over us, pushing us to hit our cycle times… Nexteer is 100 percent taking advantage of workers needing overtime to survive… there are times when they won’t allow second shifters to come in early to help us out even though we’re working with a skeleton crew.”
Why should we continue to produce profits for a company that is robbing us? The only one the UAW-backed extension “insulates from negative impacts” is the corporation.
We have enormous power if we use it. Given just-in-time delivery of parts, if we walk out we will shut down production not only at Nexteer. We will quickly shut down large parts of the auto industry, including the most profitable models at GM, Ford and Stellantis. This will give us enormous leverage against the Big Three bosses, who have exploited parts and supply workers as cheap labor for decades.
Yet the bargaining committee makes it clear we workers should do nothing to stop the flow of profits. It states: “As the agreement is still in effect, members should continue to report to work as usual and be sure to pay attention to the Union boards and information centers within the plants for further updates.”
Thanking us for our “continued patience and support,” the committee claims it is “diligently working on integrating the contractual updates/changes into the agreement,” converting it into “a viewable digital format.” These company stooges say they will make the TA “available for view as soon as possible.”
Why should we believe anything coming out of the mouths of bureaucrats who tried to sell us the first rotten deal? Do they even have a new TA, or are they just stringing us along to benefit management?
Proposed wage increases will be eaten up by inflation
The “wage sheet” that has been released only proves that another sellout is coming. It includes pathetic raises that will do nothing to offset the huge increases in fuel and food costs accelerated by the war against Iran. It includes poverty starting wages of $19.50. At the end of four years, production workers with at least 24 months of service will make $27 an hour—the same as a Saginaw Steering worker under Delphi made 20 years ago!
As one brother told the told the Nexteer Rank-and-File Committee:
Production workers would receive a $1.43 raise upon ratification. This would go up a dollar a year until 2030. They’re offering a $2,000 incentive to pass the contract... plus an additional $3,000 to bypass any grievances filed because they opened up the contract early to give skilled trades a $2 an hour raise without giving the floor workers any kind of raise. Now they’re offering an additional $3 an hour raise for skilled trades in the new TA.
He added:
We refuse to accept anything less than $25.50 upon ratification of the Agreement... then at least $1 a year raise each year afterwards without a 5-6 year contract... We would like profit sharing, yearly bonuses because we know management received a $10,000 bonus a couple of weeks ago.
In real terms, assuming annual inflation of 4.0 percent each year of the new contract, the nominal wage increases will be virtually wiped out, leaving production workers slaving away for poverty wages. Meanwhile, for the full year ending December 31, 2025, Nexteer expanded its revenues to $4.6 billion and its profits to $102 million.
Our demands
The Nexteer Workers Rank-and-File Committee raises the following demands:
- Abolition of all tiers;
- Wage increases that substantially exceed inflation and guarantee a decent living for all workers;
- A livable starting wage and rapid progression to top pay;
- Full healthcare coverage for all workers and their families;
- Enforceable limits on overtime, speedup and scheduling abuse;
- Job security and anti-outsourcing protections;
- Workers’ control over safety and staffing;
- Explicit, enforceable prohibitions on the new cycle-time surveillance or the use of tracking data for discipline.
Last month, UAW President Shawn Fain and the rest of the international and local bureaucrats thought they could pull a fast one and ram through another pro-company contract. They did not count on our solidarity and determination.
After decades of concessions and givebacks, workers everywhere are saying enough is enough! The shutdown of Spirit Airlines and the firing of 17,000 workers shows how the billionaires and politicians intend to squeeze us to pay for an illegal war and another economic crisis we did not create. Meanwhile, the oil execs, Wall Street financiers and auto bosses are laughing all the way to the bank.
We need to prepare now to defeat this sellout contract. Demand the immediate release of the entire deal and 10 days to study and discuss it before any ratification vote. Rank-and-file oversight over the ratification process to prevent any funny business. No extensions. No contract, no work! Strike pay of at least $1,000 per week.
We must appeal to auto and auto parts workers across the US and beyond our borders to honor our picket lines and refuse to handle scab parts from the Saginaw plant.
We cannot wait for permission from Fain or UAW Region 1D Director Steven Dawes to take action. We have the power. We must use it now.
To win our demands we must take control of contract talks and strike action from the pro-company union bureaucracy and put the power on the shop floor where it belongs. We say to all our brothers and sisters: Join and help build the Rank-and-File Committee, part of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees.