Background:
GM announced it was going to try to sell its Indianapolis stamping plant. The plant is manned by members of Local 23 of UAW. The workforce has a "successor contract" guaranteeing that they maintain their current compensation & workrules until 2015, even if the plant is sold.
JD Norman Industries is a potential buyer; but Norman wants wages cut in half as a condition of sale. Norman is a 34-year-old former JP Morgan money-man who's positioning himself as a Chinese-style contractor for the "new" US auto industry. "Chinese-style" as in low wages, no bennies, arms-length subcontractor & "plausible deniability" for the autocorps for labor violations.
In May, Local 23 of UAW voted NOT TO renegotiate their contract, 383-22. There are 650 members of Local 23, which means 59% of the membership voted not to renegotiate. Local 23's reps stood behind the vote.
This should have been the end of it, but the leadership of the UAW International (the very top brass of UAW) went behind the local's back & continued to negotiate with JD Norman to lower Local 23's wages. This move was a violation of UAW's Constitution, as well as a betrayal of the members of the local.
Then the brass called a meeting on short notice to "explain" the deal they'd negotiated (in hopes of calling a new vote & getting the result they wanted), word went out & the membership booed them out of the union hall. Video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owUjzuVLY-sBut GM, Norman & the International UAW brass are still pressing to get the vote they want.
***Article****
In recent days, the United Auto Workers union, former Wall Street speculator Justin Norman and General Motors have pressed ahead with their efforts to force workers at the Indianapolis GM stamping plant to accept a 50 percent cut in wages. These forces are calling for a revote on the grounds that only a “vocal minority” of workers spoke out at last Sunday’s union meeting against the concessions demands...At a press conference Wednesday (Norman) said, “Based on the outpouring of phone calls that I have received from plant employees, I believe there is a sincere desire to listen to our offer.”
The sudden concern for the rights of workers to express themselves is ludicrous coming from Norman, a corporate front man for GM who is using the threat of mass unemployment to tear up the existing contract and blackmail workers into accepting poverty wages...Last May, workers voted by a margin of 384-22 against reopening the contract and explicitly forbade the UAW to hold further negotiations. Instead, UAW International and Region 3 officials continued talks with Norman and GM behind the backs of workers.
The UAW had planned to have workers vote to reopen their contract on Sunday, then proceed to a vote on Monday, only three days after workers were first informed of a vote. This was a violation of the UAW’s own bylaws, which specify that members must be notified fifteen days in advance of any votes scheduled to take place, workers said.
UAW officials decided to hold the meeting on a Sunday, hoping the fewest numbers of workers would attend and they could browbeat them into reopening the contract. “Many workers commute long distances to this plant, and it is far harder for most to come on Sunday than on any other day. They proceeded in this manner because they wanted a low turnout,” said Angela, a worker at the plant. Auto workers also suspect that the UAW is seeking to skew a new vote by hiring additional temporary workers, who are not facing as much of a pay cut as regular employees. “They’re trying to pad the vote,” said Todd, another worker at the plant.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/aug2010/indy-a20.shtml
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